


As Long as We Remember

by KaeStela



Category: Starbound (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-10-17 16:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 82
Words: 129,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10597404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaeStela/pseuds/KaeStela
Summary: Starbound adventures with an Apex, following the life of Protectorate graduate Nyota Saimiri after she escapes the destruction of the Earth.From my Tumblr story blog, based on my second playthrough (many more characters to be added)





	1. Graduation Day

“Wake up. You have overslept.”

Nyota rolled over and mumbled something incoherent. Her bed was warm and soft, and she was still so tired… staying up all last night to make sure she knew the proper graduation protocol had not been her best decision, even if she had been too anxious to sleep anyway. Then the meaning of the words hit her and she shot upright, cracking her head on the bunk above her.

When the stars faded a second or two later, Nyota muttered something rude about the beds clearly not being made for Apex height and rolled out of her bunk. She managed to land on her feet, something she hadn’t entirely expected, and stood up. At a good 6’07”, she towered over even most of her human classmates, and her mane of dark hair was definitely in need of a good brushing if the window reflection was any indication. Fur too, probably.

“Your hairbrush is in the bathroom where you last left it,” said the mechanical voice helpfully. Her S.A.I.L. was never all that good at realizing when its information was redundant; Nyota made a mental note (for the fourteenth time this month) to update its programming when she got the chance. She shuffled over to the bathroom door, stopping briefly to inspect herself and sigh. She’d gone to sleep in her day-clothes. Again.

“You can generally open doors by interacting with them, if you are awake enough for that,” S.A.I.L. quipped, clearly misreading her pause.

“I know that much, bolt-brains,” the sleepy Apex grumbled, opening the door. She made to grab the dark hairbrush-shaped thing on the edge of the sink, stopped when she realized it was her Novakid roommate’s electric wire-tool mashup (for styling coronas, apparently), and carefully unplugged the contraption. Isobu was terrible about remembering to put things away.

After a few passes with the brush and a half-hearted rub to her cheek fur made her look marginally more presentable, Nyota quickly stowed her brush and headed for the lockers. She was already running late, according to S.A.I.L. It wasn’t the best at reading emotion in Apex, but it was never wrong about time. No time for a better bit of grooming, but at least she could wear her uniform instead of her sleep-rumpled clothes from yesterday.

“Your uniform is available to collect from your personal locker,” S.A.I.L. told her, actually reading what she wanted correctly for once. It spoiled the mood by adding, “It is quite impressive that you can remain so serene when you are running so late. Well done you.”

“Hush, S.A.I.L.,” Nyota commanded, tapping the combination into the locker’s keypad and opening the door. “I’ve still got twenty minutes. I’m doing fine.” She pulled the blue fabric out of the tall metal box; her name, Nyota Saimiri, was written quite neatly on a label someone had pinned to the front. It kind of surprised her that anyone had bothered to write it by hand. Back home, everything had been printed, everything exactly alike. With a quick glance around the hall, she made sure no one was watching, then buried her face in the shirt and inhaled deeply. It smelled wonderful, like that little Earth flower she’d come to love, lavender. When she shook out the shirt to get a good look at it, a tiny sachet tumbled out, tied with a yellow ribbon that had a feather stuck through the bow. Nyota smiled. That explained it, then. One of the Avians in the tailoring studio, Huil, often shared lunch breaks with her. It made Nyota happy that he had remembered her even on this busiest of days.

The uniform fit perfectly. With one last look at the mirror and a self-conscious rub at her fur, which refused to lie flat, Nyota stepped out into the main hall. One of her human classmates, generally known as some form of Marcy (she hated her given name), waved her over. “Hey Nyota! Have a moment to chat?” she called.

“Not really,” Nyota replied, hurrying over, “but I can make one, I think.” Part of her brain pointed out how silly it was to think of making time, but she quashed that thought. She’d lived with humans long enough that it was time to start thinking like one, at least a little bit.

“Oh, right! The ceremony! It’s going to start soon, isn’t it?” Marcy asked, looking up at the wall clock. “Guess you really don’t have a moment. Well, you’d better run off to the auditorium for your graduation and assignment. Don’t worry, though! If you get assigned to some distant world, don’t forget you’ll always have friends here on Earth!”

Nyota grinned. “Thanks, Marcy.”

***  
Glancing at the clock again, Nyota excused herself from further conversation as quickly as courtesy would allow and hurried down the hall. No time today for coffee or a nice Oculemonade to wake her up. Probably for the best, though… one of the underclassmen was complaining about the machine eating his pixels again.

“Good morning, Mr. Leadknut!” she called to the Glitch janitor as she hurried past. He was almost always out on this bridge, as long as it wasn’t raining. The janitor tipped his cap to her briefly, then went back to sweeping. She could have sworn she heard the phrase _“one day away from retirement.”_

“Why rush? Come sit and enjoy the serene breeze,” a Hylotl said to her as she passed the great tree.

“Sorry, another time,” Nyota said, bowing her head a little in greeting. “I’m running behind.”

“Ah, yes. Graduation. Such a thing only comes once,” the Hylotl remarked, nodding in a way that he probably assumed was sagely. “At least take a memento, then.”

A memento? Nyota looked up at the tree, then down at its scattered petals that tumbled across the ground. Something darker purple caught her eye; a large, beautiful four-petaled flower. She smiled. Generally, sentimentality wasn’t common among the Apex, but a few years on Earth had taught Nyota a lot of appreciation for the little things. “It can’t hurt,” she murmured, plucking the flower and tucking it into her hair.

“You’re really cutting it close, Nyota,” a silver-furred Apex said as she approached the doors. He wasn’t exactly one of her teachers, but she respected him like one. He’d showed her a lot about fitting in with the humans… at least, as much as a six and a half foot tall ape woman _could_ fit in with her furless cousins.

“My apologies, Nikko,” she said. She’d run the last stretch to make up for her stop by the tree. “Slept through S.A.I.L., and Marcy wanted to talk.”

Nikko smiled encouragingly. “Well, it hasn’t started yet. No harm done. Please hurry inside before the ceremony starts. Oh, and Nyota? Congratulations. You made it.”

A matching smile appeared on Nyota’s face. “Thank you, Nikko.”

Most of her other classmates were already milling about backstage when Nyota arrived. Turnmail was using one of the display cases to check his reflection; from the look of things, he’d already polished himself at least twice. Akemi was chatting quietly with Ronaldo, probably giving him an earful about not having his moustache neatly groomed. They went through this at least twice a week. Marcy said they were like an old married couple. Muthoni, who had the dubious honor of being the only Floran Nyota had ever seen in a Protectorate uniform, looked distinctly uncomfortable as he sidled over to her.

“How’s it going, Muthoni?” she asked.

“Floran regretss drinking five Oculemonades for breakfast,” he hissed. He was very fidgety.

“Yikes, Muth… you should know better than that,” Nyota whispered back. “Remember last time?”

Muthoni nodded guiltily.

Nyota looked around. Now that the stage lights had dimmed, there was a distinct absence in the room. “Hey, have you seen Isobu?” she said. Even if he was a particularly restless Novakid, it wasn’t like him to miss something this important.

The Floran shrugged. “Floran was too busy hoping for bathroomss,” he admitted.

“Curious. This is very unusual. He is always very prompt for any of Grand Protector Portia’s speeches, and this one is most important.” Turnmail said, walking over. “Uncertain. He was already here when we got here.”

Akemi stopped lecturing Ronaldo and joined the trio. “I believe he went downstairs a few minutes before you arrived,” she said. “He said something about seeing a strange woman down there. Do you know anything about this, Ronaldo?”

Ronaldo mumbled something disgruntled about getting his ears lectured off by a fish. Akemi rolled her eyes. “No, nothing helpful,” she translated.

Before Nyota could ask anything else, Nikko locked the door and shushed them. The ceremony was about to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was originally posted to Tumblr at nyotasaimiri.tumblr.com; that blog is still active for updates, commentary, art, and headcanon, if you're curious. Thank you for reading! Also thanks in advance for your patience; it's going to be a long but hopefully fun ride. I'll be doing mostly daily updates until I catch up with the story blog.


	2. Ruin

As the curtain rose and the crowd applauded, Nyota tapped the command button on her portable S.A.I.L. transmitter. She remembered just in time to turn on the earpiece; if her S.A.I.L. started blaring to the whole backstage, she’d get in a ton of trouble.

“Command prompt received. How can I help you?” S.A.I.L. said.

“S.A.I.L., can you scan the building?” Nyota asked, keeping her voice as low as possible.

“Beginning scan. What am I looking for?”

Nyota frowned. Isobu had told her his composition once, and searching specifically for that would probably have been the most efficient method, but her notebook was back in the room. From what she could remember… “His brand contains a unique sodium alloy,” she told the A.I. “Look for a Novakid life signature with locally focused magnetism and a relatively high concentration of sodium nearby. It should be in the same building as me.”

“Understood. Narrowing focus… you should probably focus on the speeches,” S.A.I.L. remarked. “The Grand Protector will be starting hers soon.”

The Apex sighed and looked up at the stage. She’d done all she could, anyway. _Why do I have this awful feeling?_ she wondered. _Isobu, please, be safe._  
**  
“My fellow Protectors,” Grand Protector Leda Portia said, smiling broadly as she addressed the crowd. “Today we come together to witness the Protectorate grow. For over 500 years, we have stood proud here on Earth, drawing together races of all kinds in the name of peace. Our task: to protect our fellow beings; to support, house, and educate those who seek our aid, and to foster accord between those that aspire to it.”

“Signal found,” S.A.I.L. said in Nyota’s ear. “Error. I have not been programmed for Novakid biometrics. Human lifeform signature nearby. Error. Unable to identify. Unknown lifeform signature is causing interference.”

“What?” Nyota whispered. “S.A.I.L., what’s going on?”

“Shhh,” Akemi hissed. “Pay attention.”

Leda held her Matter Maniuplator high in the air. “Today, in the name of peace,” she declared, “we welcome our newest compatriots, and present each of them with our greatest tool…”

“Error. Novakid signal lost.”

“The Matter Manipulator—” There was a huge rumble, like a muffled explosion, that shook the whole building. Leda Porta grabbed her podium to stay upright, her smile instantly replaced by a look of fear and concern. “Huh? What was that?”

Everything happened far too fast. Massive tendrils of rippling red flesh shot through the floors and wall. The auditorium was ruined in moments. Eyes wide with shock and terror, Nyota dove under one as it lashed out at her head, shoving Muthoni away from a second one that tried to curl around his foot. “Run! Run!”

In the center of the stage, Leda was looking at the sudden devastation with confusion and horror; the full reality hadn’t quite dawned on her yet. Then a tentacle shot up beneath her, almost completely engulfing the old woman. The shattering podium drowned out her scream. Acting purely on instinct, Nyota sprinted toward the stage. She’d been trained for… no, nothing like this. But her Protectorate training had taught her to help people! She had to—

She knew from the Grand Protector’s expression that it was too late, and Leda knew it too. “You, Graduate!” she called, her voice sharp and piercing even through the chaos all around them. “Take the Manipulator and run! Get to safety!”

Then she was gone, pulled back through the floor. Part of Nyota wanted to stop there, to give in to shock. Her classmates were nowhere to be seen; whether they’d been grabbed by the tentacles or managed to escape, she would never find out. The Grand Protector was gone. The Protectorate was gone. Then her training kicked in. Nyota grabbed the Matter Manipulator. She had been given an order. She would obey it.  
**

Afterward, Nyota never remembered much about her escape. It was just a blur of heat, motion, and steadily-quashed panic, S.A.I.L.’s voice guiding her through it all. “It’s not safe to remain here. You must proceed to the shuttle pad!” S.A.I.L. crackled. It sounded like there’d been some damage to its server.

“Which way?” Nyota asked, powering up the Matter Manipulator. She scrambled out of the way of more falling debris, but thankfully most of the tentacles seemed to have moved on.

“Through the portrait hall. Hurry!”

The Apex obeyed, hurrying through the door. She spared a brief glance to the past Grand Protectors; the Apex one had always inspired her, like a distant mother-figure, but there was no time to ask for guidance now. Nyota made it another few yards before the building shook again. Something overhead cracked as she fought for balance; a huge mound of dirt and sod tumbled through the ceiling.

“It appears the ceiling has collapsed,” S.A.I.L. said, its usual tendency to state the obvious strangely comforting now. “The Matter Manipulator can be used to remove the dirt.”  
Trying to recall her lessons, Nyota pointed the Manipulator at the barrier. A strange blue beam shot out of it; in seconds, a hole had started forming in the middle of the mound. It took her almost a minute to clear enough room to fit through, but as soon as the hole was wide enough she wriggled past and ran onward.

Water sloshed underfoot in the next room; it was full of debris, and growing steadily higher. There was a sealed door ahead; it wouldn’t respond to any of Nyota’s attempts to open it. “S.A.I.L., where’s all this water coming from?” she asked, trying an admin password with little success after hers failed.

“Scans show the room beyond this door has flooded,” S.A.I.L. informed her. “It would be best not to go in… I advise you to find a way over it.”

“A way over…” Nyota looked around, then spotted a few bars set into the wall, a ladder leading up to the skylight. They were a bit rickety for an Apex, but she scrambled up them anyway, hauling herself out on to the roof. The city was a horrorscape; scarlet tentacles writhed out of the building. From somewhere in the distance, another explosion shook the ground. One of the oldest skyscrapers in the city began to crumble. Everything stank of smoke, blood, and tainted flesh… There was a dead Hylotl on the ground. Nyota looked away as she passed by. _Why so squeamish?_ a little voice in the back of her mind asked. _You saw plenty of corpses when the Min—_

“That never prepared me for something like this,” she growled aloud, stuffing the voice away. Focus. “S.A.I.L., what’s the situation look like? Is there anywhere safe in the city?”

The A.I. was silent for a moment. Eventually, it said, almost as if it couldn’t believe the words, “The scale of this disaster is immeasurable. The destruction occurring is beyond my ability to quantify.” It crackled briefly, like radio static. “You must leave this planet immediately.”

“Understood.” That was half a lie. She didn’t understand any of this. Even S.A.I.L. didn’t. But there would be time for that later. She had to survive first.

A tentacle smashed through the platform ahead of her and made a grab for her waist. Nyota’s reflexes jerked her out of the way before thought even caught up. She jumped over it as it made a second pass at her and ran faster. “I can’t dodge forever,” she panted. “S.A.I.L.! I need a weapon! Some way to fight!”

“The chest sitting on that conveyor belt should contain some kind of weapon,” S.A.I.L. replied. It was getting harder to understand; from the whirring in the background, it was running several major scans at once. “Please arm yourself!”

Nyota ran over and shoved some debris off of the orange-striped chest. Falling bits of ceiling had smashed its lock; one hard wrench at the lid and it popped right open, the sudden lack of resistance sending the Apex tumbling back. She winced as her tailbone hit the floor. As she moved to stand up again, her hand got caught in lose fabric. Some sort of… torn yellow cloth? Nyota looked up. There was a torn Protectorate banner up the hall, near the writhing tentacle she’d jumped over. It must have come from there. It still bore the Protectorate’s mark. She’d feel foolish for it later, she knew, but Nyota wanted to bring the thing with her.

The chest was almost empty, but as S.A.I.L. had promised, there was a single broadsword inside. Nyota prized it loose and gave it a few swings; she really preferred either a quick dagger or something to keep enemies at bay. No helping that now. At least the edge was sharp. Nyota knotted the long banner piece around her neck like a sort of cloak before turning back toward the exit; the sword occupied both her hands, and she didn’t want to risk dropping either. _Strange… it almost makes me feel braver._

A smaller tentacle shot out through the window as she neared the exit, but Nyota was ready for it this time. Her new sword bit deep into the thing’s foul-smelling flesh. A few slices, and the tentacle crumbled to pieces. Nyota didn’t stick around to watch. As soon as it was out of her way, she was sprinting for the ships again.  
“I have bypassed the preflight checks. Get aboard!” S.A.I.L. commanded as she reached the nearest intact craft.

“What about the others?” Nyota panted.

“I cannot detect any lifesigns in the vicinity except for yours,” S.A.I.L. told her. “Some ships have already cleared the atmosphere. It is plausible that some humans have already escaped the destruction. There’s no time to wait for them, Nyota,” the A.I. continued, almost gently, though she knew its programming didn’t allow for that. “The strange lifesign readings have reached the core. If you do not depart soon, you will be caught in the gravity well as the planet collapses.”

Nyota nodded a few times, her brain not ready to process its words. She could see buildings crumbling. Tentacles covered the horizon. The midday sun was all wrong, stained red through the smoke so it looked like a great crimson eye. A human had told her once, during her first week on Earth, about an awful fiery place where the souls of evil humans were believed to go. “If there really is a Hell, then this must be it,” she murmured. Then she shook herself, remembering her orders, her training, and climbed aboard. “S.A.I.L., let’s get out of here.”

The hatch slid shut. Nyota leaned against the wall and shut her eyes. She could feel the ship rattling around her as it gained altitude, but she didn’t want to watch. She didn’t want to think. The thoughts came anyway. _Home. Earth. Muth. Marcy. Huil. Turnmail. Akemi. Ronaldo. Nikko. Isobu._  
Exhaustion finally claimed her as the Earth crumbled away below, her ship bound for the distant stars.


	3. Aftermath

Nyota drifted slowly back to consciousness. She had no idea how long she’d slept; the alcove was dark. Her cheeks were damp.

There was a small red weasel curled up on her chest. It stretched and scampered off as she shifted, tiny claws clicking on the metal floor. Nyota sat up slowly, somewhat unwilling to leave the quiet peace of sleep. She’d heard once that human brains had trouble recalling events immediately on waking; the Apex mind didn’t often offer that luxury. The image of the crumbling world and its red, red sun still gouged into her thoughts. The memory of the friends she’d left behind… had anyone made it? She looked out the window: nothing but vast space above and a strange world below. A green, lively world, just like Earth had been. Her eyes burned.

 _Not now._ Nyota forced the grief down and locked it away. It was too raw, too fresh to deal with right now. It wasn’t as easy as she would have liked; being in the Protectorate for so long had taught her how to work with others, how to spread peace and keep it, not how to handle her emotions. She needed her older training now. Taking a deep, slow breath, Nyota stood up. _Don’t feel,_ her mentor had told her, back when she was little more than a child. _Don’t feel. Don’t think. Do._

“Find the practical,” she said aloud. “I need to know where I am. S.A.I.L, can you—”

She stopped. Something was wrong with S.A.I.L. Something was wrong with the whole ship; the lights were on emergency power, and the teleporter wasn’t responding. S.A.I.L. was in charge of managing all that… With a sigh, Nyota walked over to the A.I. command board. The sigh turned into a startled yelp as she tripped over the red weasel.

Weasel tucked safely under one arm (where it proceeded to nibble affectionately at her wrist), Nyota inspected the screen. S.A.I.L.’s face showed an hourglass, and half of the display was frozen, flickering every so often with a short buzz. Tech class hadn’t taught them how to handle this sort of thing, but Nyota was _remembering_ now. Digging a little deeper into her oldest lessons, she hooked up the monitor’s manual keyboard and let her fingers do the thinking. A few seconds later, the screen went dark. She tucked the keyboard away as S.A.I.L.’s face reappeared.

“Rebooting…” it droned, ending with a sharp squeak. Nyota set down her weasel and slid the access panel aside, then gingerly tapped the appropriate switchboard back into place. The emergency take-off must have jarred it. She inspected the rest of the system; nothing else seemed off. Satisfied, she shut the panel. The voicebox inside whirred, then clicked into alignment.

“Reboot complete!” S.A.I.L. said, its voice much clearer now. “I am S.A.I.L., your Ship-based Artificial Intelligence Lattice. I manage the maintenance of your ship. I am also programmed to offer you information and advice.”

Nyota smiled. That was exactly what it had said to her on her first day in the academy. “I know, S.A.I.L. Don’t you recognize me? Or did the jump fry your circuits that badly?”

“Whrrr… Accessing memory banks… Loading back-up…” S.A.I.L.’s animated face showed simulated confusion for a few seconds, its eyes devolving into spinning spirals before blinking back to normal. “Miss Nyota Saimiri recognized. My original server was destroyed in our escape,” it explained, settling back into its usual pattern of animations. “The emergency upload to this ship was against protocol, but the necessary files seem to have made it, despite being… jumbled.”

The Apex nodded and sat down in front of the monitor. The red weasel immediately scampered up onto her shoulder; where had the little thing come from, anyway? Absently scratching its ears, she said, “S.A.I.L., I need a complete report of everything that has happened since I boarded this ship.”

The animated display imitated a concerned face. “Earth was attacked by an unknown force, and was subsequently annihilated.”

Nyota closed her eyes, exhaling slowly through her nose. She’d suspected as much, but to hear it out loud… “I see. Where are we now?”

“The ship’s navigation systems were damaged in our escape,” S.A.I.L. said. “Our location is currently unknown.”

“I gathered that much. What do you propose we do?”

“We are currently in orbit around an unknown world. The ship is heavily damaged and we are unable to leave orbit,” the A.I. told her. “The teleporter, however, is still functioning, as is the supplies locker. The supplies there are rudimentary, but they will suffice for a few days. I suggest you beam down to the planet’s surface using the teleporter, and search for supplies and perhaps a means of fixing the ship.”

Nyota stood up. “Understood.”

There were just four tins of preserved rations in the storage locker; Nyota grabbed one and stowed it away. The rest would keep for a while yet. After a little more rummaging, she produced a blue flashlight and a handful of torches. At least she’d be able to see where she was going. She shut the locker and inspected her reflection in the polished door; grimy, marked with soot, in terrible need of a good grooming, and stained by some awful slime that probably came from the tentacles. She certainly looked like she’d just survived an apocalypse.

“Sounds about right,” she sighed. A bit reluctantly, she started to change out of her uniform. The ship had a spare outfit in the hold; it’d have to do for now. She didn’t want to ruin the uniform. It was one of her last pieces of home.

As she pulled the spare shirt on, something slipped out of her hair. Surprised, Nyota knelt and picked it up. It was the flower. Somehow, through all the chaos, through all the running and fighting for her life, through all that she’d been through, that flower had stayed tucked behind her ear. She twirled it gently between her fingers in a kind of daze, watching the delicate petals sway.  


_“How do Novakid stand living for so long?” she asked Isobu. They were sitting under the Tree, listening to the chimes. He’d just told her his age: if he’d counted right, something around sixty-nine Earth-years, and still young._

_“Whatcha mean?” he asked, tilting his head to one side. “I don’t see how standin’ has anythin’ to do with it. We just kinda go. Novas can live for centuries if nuthin’ kills us first.” He hummed and crackled, his plasma flickering in the Novakid equivalent of a dry chuckle. “Of course, not too many of us are likely to get on that long. We’re a rash lot, Novas are. Like as not I’ll get myself blown up one o’ these days, doin’ somethin’ I know is stupid. Just can’t help it. Humans say they get th’ fire in their blood. Novakid’re made o’ fire.”_

_Nyota watched a few petals drift past on the breeze. “You have a good point,” she said, grinning a little. “It just… seems lonely, going through life alone. Unless you find another of your kind, you’ll outlive everyone you know.”_

_Isobu dimmed a little. “I guess it does sound lonely when ya say it like that,” he said slowly. “Guess that’s why some of us like to forget.”_

_“You said ‘some of us.’ What about you?” Nyota was still learning to read Novakid “expressions,” but the way his amber plasma glowed then, she could have sworn it was a warm smile._

_“Me? Well, I guess… Aw, it sounds sappy.”_

_The Apex leaned forward. “Go on,” she insisted. “You can’t just leave me hanging.”_

_Isobu chuckled again. “Well… I ain’t never had that many friends. Most’re gone for good, now, but I’ll never forget ‘em. Sometimes… It’s kinda like they’re still with me, in a way. I can’t explain it, but…” He tapped his sun-shaped brand. “Nuthin’s ever lost to us, ya know, long as we remember it."_

 

Nyota smiled a little, neatened her hair a bit, and tucked the flower back in. “Nothing’s ever lost to us,” she echoed, “as long as we remember it.”


	4. First Steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not great at this whole "one post a day" thing, especially since I already have so much material written. I get too excited to share what I've got ^.^;

Nyota opened her eyes and stood up, fighting down nausea. Teleporting always felt like riding a rollercoaster at light-speed; some times were better than others. This was not one of them. Then a breeze rolled past and completely distracted her. Nyota closed her eyes again, letting bliss take over. The air here was sweet and clear, softer than anywhere she’d ever been. This was a world that had never known war, one left almost forgotten by time.

The Apex shook her head. “Guess I’m feeling a bit sentimental,” she mused, opening her eyes again. She could enjoy the smell of the wind after she got her bearings and figured out how to mend her ship. Pulling out the Matter Manipulator, she flicked through the settings a bit, checking to make sure it had survived the jump alright. Everything seemed to be in order. A name flashed on its tiny display screen: _Mimosa Strand I._ Was that the name of this planet? Nyota was a bit confused. Mimosa was a kind of Earth tree, wasn’t it? Or a cocktail, depending on who she asked… Space-farers always came up with the strangest names for star systems.

She seemed to be standing near the top of a low hill. There was a small camp out to her right. Nyota turned and started climbing higher. She really didn’t want to deal with people right now. Not after everything that had happened.

The hill arced over into a small valley, then soared into a high cliff. Nyota looked up at it and sighed. She had absolutely no way of climbing that thing. Unless… Pulling out the Matter Manipulator again, Nyota took aim at a spot within jumping distance and started picking away at the cliff face. The display screen readout soon started to change; two weights of dirt, three, four… She flicked off the Manipulator and leapt into the crevice she’d dug out. It held. Grinning and feeling very pleased with herself, she leaned out a little ways and found another spot to start a second ledge.

Nyota shook dirt and grass off her hide and looked around as she hauled herself over the final ledge. “By the stars…” she breathed. It was breathtaking. This planet seemed full of high cliffs and deep valleys, covered in lush grass. A couple of trees offered her a bit of shade as she finished getting weeds out of her fur and admiring the view. “I wish the others could have seen this,” she whispered, feeling a tiny stab of regret. She quashed the rest before it could threaten her composure again. _It’s a nice view_ , she told herself. _No point getting sappy over it._

She spotted something dark rising through the trees. Curious, Nyota wandered over, brushing foliage out of her way so she could get a better look. It was an old ruin of some sort; rubble littered the floor and vines crawled all across the walls, but somehow it was standing. So this planet was inhabited, or at least it had been, at one point. Full of a strange wonder, Nyota stepped through the doorframe and stared up at the ceiling. It smelled of earth, smoke, and memory. And also age… no one had lived her for decades. A sad smile creased her face. _Looks like we’ve both known loss, huh?_

_-_

It was starting to get dark, and Nyota had no desire to be stuck out in the open on a strange planet. She had left the old ruined house behind; she just couldn’t stay there. It felt wrong. But now she was without a roof over her head or any place to hide, and she needed to hide. Monsters were starting to come out, lured by the setting sun. Squelchy sounds alerted her to an approaching Gleap; Nyota ducked as it shot over her head, then slashed at it with her sword. After a few slices, it melted into a puddle of goop. “I have got to find a better sword,” she panted. Taking that long against a larger enemy could be fatal.

“There are abundant ores found within this planet’s crust,” S.A.I.L. commented, its voice carrying sharp and clear through her earpiece. “It will require some searching on your part, but your Matter Manipulator should be able to extract ores from the rock. You can smelt them into bars for crafting a wide range of equipment that may increase your life expectancy.”

“Hm. Thank you, S.A.I.L.” Nyota made a mental note to start hunting around in the morning. Right now, shelter was more important. A light in the distance caught her eye; fire? Shouldering her sword, the Apex hurried through the trees, doing her best to stay low in case flying monsters spotted her. She’d already had to fight off two of the little devils and was not looking forward to finding a third.

A few stumbles and branch-scratches later, she reached a small clearing. There was a small fire crackling there, little more than embers, and a sleeping bag. Nyota crept closer, moving as quietly as she could. “S.A.I.L., scan for sentient lifeforms,” she whispered. A fire meant people. She didn’t know if they’d be friendly.

“Scanning… no readings in the immediate vicinity,” the A.I. said. “Whoever set up camp has not returned for several hours. The sleeping bag is free of vermin,” it added helpfully.

Nyota considered that, then sighed. She didn’t really like the idea of using someone else’s bed roll in case they came back, but she had been exploring for hours now without a rest, fighting off monsters and climbing mountains. She wasn’t sure if practically passing out on the ship after her escape counted as a proper rest, either… A yawn interrupted her thoughts, and settled the debate. “S.A.I.L., wake me if anyone approaches,” Nyota commanded. “I need a nap.”

**

It was dark when she finally woke up. The fire was still crackling away merrily, despite showing no signs of tending since she’d gone to sleep. Suspicious, Nyota crawled out of the sleeping bag and gave it a prod with her sword. “Ah, that explains it,” she muttered. Whoever built the thing had rigged up a fire cube to keep it going. It wasn’t actually close enough to burn the wood at all. Fire cubes were handy little gadgets, able to store, concentrate, and release solar energy as fuel, but not easy to get ahold of. It was kind of strange to find one out here, in the middle of nowhere.

Nyota stood up, intending to stretch, but a wave of dizziness hit her. She tried to steady herself, forcing down the uncertainty and fear. “What now?”

“The weakness you are feeling is likely due to hunger,” S.A.I.L. said. “You have not eaten anything since you woke up before the graduation ceremony.”

She hadn’t wanted to eat. Nyota had passed several wild crops earlier in the day. She knew she needed food, but…

“Being resistant to self-care is understandable, given the circumstances,” S.A.I.L. told her, “but you should find something to eat in order to maintain your body’s functionality.”

The Apex nodded. It sounded almost silly when S.A.I.L. said it. How foolish would it be to starve after all she’d survived so far? Earth, her old home, the Miniknog… She hadn’t gotten out of that all that just to die here of something she could have easily prevented.

It wasn’t much, and had the typical bland taste of canned beans, but the ration tin she’d brought from the ship filled her up a bit after a little warming over the cube. The dizziness faded after a few minutes, too. Nyota stood up and finally managed a decent stretch. The sleeping bag had been made for human proportions, so she’d gotten a bit scrunched and stiff from trying to stay warm inside it. Now that she was awake, it was time to get to work. She needed to find a better way to defend herself.

S.A.I.L. was right, this planet was rich in ores. Nyota followed a shallow crack in the ground, picking bits of copper and iron out of the soil with her Matter Manipulator. She’d amassed a decent collection when her earpiece chimed.

“My scans indicate there is some kind of archaic energy source on this planet. I estimate a 32% chance that it is worth investigating, and a 98% chance that you have nothing better to do.”

“I appreciate how you consider following your advice to gather ore to have only a 2% chance of being more useful than following this weird energy signal,” Nyota remarked, extricating herself from the hole.

Following S.A.I.L.’s directions, Nyota headed east, climbing over yet another hill. It was much less entertaining at night when she had to avoid voracious bird monsters, but she was getting quite good at swatting them out of the air with her blade. She stopped to catch her breath at the top of the hill under the relative safety of a covered bridge. Despite the obvious age, it was still in remarkably good shape; she smiled as she watched the tiny fish swim around below it.

She could see something else at the bottom of the hill. Moving as carefully as she could (falling off the edge was not exactly high on her priority list now), Nyota climbed down and approached the structure. “By the brightest stars…” she whispered.

It was a vast, arching gate. Nyota couldn’t see the top in this light, but just from the base alone it was probably at least 50 feet high. It looked ancient. Apex weren’t given to poetic expression (considering the fate of the last Apex poet), but Nyota felt that it was as old as time itself…

“This is an energy source, like a battery?” she asked, walking slowly toward the center. A purple-lit console sat precisely between the gateposts, still lit and well-kept despite looking even older than the gate.

“It is a source of energy, as in radiating odd energy signals,” S.A.I.L. clarified. “Upon reflection, the previous syntax may be responsible for your confusion.”

Nyota ran a hand over the keys. “Remind me to reprogram you later,” she said, but her mind was far from that. _Just how long has this been here? Has no one ever found it before?_ The console didn’t respond to her touch; it had been too much to hope that it would still be functional.

Then something lit up. Nyota scrambled backward as a strange crackling emanated from the old device. “S.A.I.L.?” she asked, her voice sharp. “S.A.I.L., what’s happening?” _Stars, if this thing explodes…_

“You seem to have started a simple process,” S.A.I.L. replied. “It is relatively modern, compared to the gate itself, though the technology used to connect it to this console is at least a decade old. It’s rather outdated.”

“Stop being a snob and tell me what it’s doing.” The initial panic was starting to die down, but she was in no mood for the A.I.’s nonsense.

There was a slight whirring noise from her earpiece, followed by a soft click. “My scans are picking up an unknown radio signal around the unknown energy source. I will patch it through to you now,” S.A.I.L. said. If Nyota didn’t know better, she’d say it was miffed.

Her earpiece clicked again. The voice that came through was rough with static, probably female, and possibly human, though Nyota still wasn’t a good judge of that. “If you’ve picked up this message,” the unknown voice said, “you must have found an Ancient Gateway. Please use it to come and find me. You can power up the Gate with Core Fragments.” There was a third click, and the voice stopped.

Nyota stared at the gate in silence for a few seconds. “That was… not what I had expected,” she admitted after a bit. “I don’t know what I expected. But it’s given me something to do. S.A.I.L., what do you make of all this?”

“Core Fragments are a type of ore that can be ground into volatile explosive powder,” the A.I. informed her. “I have scanned for nearby Core Fragments. They appear naturally within the geology of this planet; readings suggest numerous ore clusters deep below ground, near the planet’s center.”

The Apex had no desire to dig all the way down to the heart of the world. With just her Matter Manipulator, it could take weeks to accomplish that. “There has to be somewhere closer,” she muttered, checking the scan results on her Manipulator’s screen. _Ah. There we go._ The core was so full of fragments that it overwhelmed anything else, but tuning the depth parameters to show just surface levels changed the readings entirely. There was a small blip near the surface, not far from where she’d beamed down. It was just past the camp she’d seen, a little ways underground.

 _Right. First things first, I need some manner of base of operations._ Nyota knew better than to try exploring with nowhere to store or process what she found, and her broken ship was hardly a good spot for that right now. There was only so much her little locker could manage. _Somewhere nearby, then… Perhaps an existing place I can modify,_ she thought. She knew exactly where to start.

The sun was beginning to rise by the time she finished her work, but Nyota felt rather pleased with herself. She’d mended as much as she could on the lit bridge, and set up a small camp under its roof. S.A.I.L. had marked the coordinates for her thanks to the flag, so she could find it again as long as there was a teleporter nearby. All that the little place needed now was a door or two to keep the drafts out. “It’s not much,” Nyota said with a smile, putting her Matter Manipulator away, “but for now, it’s home.” Now, at least, she had somewhere to come back to when her adventure was done.


	5. Mending the Gate

Just as Nyota had suspected, the camp was right on the outskirts of a large cave. From the number of crates outside and the extremely outdated geo-meter, the place had once been a mine. Perhaps the ruined house she found yesterday was a miner’s house once. No one was around; it was probably abandoned. Rummaging in one of the crates produced a few chunks of precious ore, and a small glowing red crystal.

“You’ve discovered a core fragment!” S.A.I.L. commented cheerfully. “These are useful objects. I estimate that you will require at least 20 of them.”

Nyota checked the scan again. Based on the readings, that would be easy. Of course, the depths of the mine were probably not safe, if the place was abandoned. “I wish I had armor,” she muttered, poking through another crate. Her find made her grin. It wasn’t armor, but it would help all the same. She pulled the pistol out and inspected it. Still in working order! What luck! Holstering her new weapon, she headed for the cave.

S.A.I.L. buzzed in her ear. “I am detecting a variety of life signs in this mine.” It sounded worried. “If you are intending to search it for core fragments, I may advise adequately arming yourself first.”

“I don’t have that luxury yet, S.A.I.L. This gun and sword will have to do,” the Apex grunted as she lowered herself from the platform. The stairs had rotted away completely. She was lucky the framework had survived well enough to hold her weight.

“If you are not sufficiently confident in your personal combat abilities, an alternative solution would be to dig closer to the planet’s center to find the core fragments,” the A.I. offered as Nyota reached a sturdier ledge.

“Don’t have that luxury, either. Let me know if anything big and nasty approaches.” She switched her flashlight on and headed deeper.

One branch of the mine ended up being a dead end, but Nyota still found a handful of core fragments, tucked away in corners or fallen into cracks and forgotten. The mine was crawling with monsters; bats kept diving at her head, and the large quantities of snaunt were proving a painful nuisance, but her new pistol handled them well enough. She stopped to rest a little way down the second passage, grinding up a few bits of vine into salve for a particularly nasty acid burn. _Blasted snaunts._

Her earpiece chimed. “Miss Nyota? You said to mention if something ‘big and nasty’ was nearby.”

With a sharp curse, Nyota scrambled to her feet and drew her sword. “Where is it, S.A.I.L.?”

“Not within striking range,” the A.I. said, which calmed her down a little, “and I do not think it has noticed you. But my sensors are picking up a very large lifeform signal from just below where you are now.”

Nyota glanced warily down the passage. “Guess I’m not going that way.”

S.A.I.L. was silent for a few moments. Then it said, “I am also picking up a large quantity of core fragments in that direction.”

The Apex sighed. “Never mind.”

The path opened out into a wide cavern, the far end of it blocked by a massive wooden tower. Judging by the vines growing around it, the tower was old, but it showed no sign of rot. Nyota crept silently over to the door at its base. She could hear scuffling on the other side. Swallowing her fear, Nyota opened the door. “Oh, _void-ash_ …”

It was massive. Even the old Miniknog monster database file had failed to communicate just how _huge_ these things were. Nyota stared in horror at the full-grown poptop; what was she thinking? Her sword would be _useless_ against that, and her pistol was only good for picking off snaunts! But she could see the readings on the scanner. The entire room was lit up with core fragment signals. The Apex gritted her teeth. She had to find a way past.

Ducking back behind the door frame before it noticed her, Nyota rummaged through the supplies she’d found earlier. She had her battered old sword; useless. Taking that thing on in close quarters would get her killed, even without the small horde of baby poptops she’d spotted behind it. Her pistol could annoy it, at least, and wear it down… but she seriously doubted the little thing had enough kick to kill that monster. Just sneaking through wasn’t an option, either. Little poptops were terribly aggressive. Big ones were doubly so, and there was no cover in that room. Her gaze fell on a handful of darts she’d found. They were needle-sharp, and with Apex strength she could throw them hard enough to crack rock. Perhaps, with a little luck…

Poking her head out again to make sure the poptop was still in view, Nyota took aim and fired a few shots at it, enough to get its attention.

The poptop turned and roared. Nyota winced. Even the loudest Apex had never managed sound like that. Doing her best to ignore the buzz in her ears, she drew a dart from her belt and flung it at the beast with all her might. It tore right into the poptop’s tough hide. The poptop roared again and charged, but the ledge Nyota stood on was just out of reach; the whole structure shook as the poptop crashed into the base. Grimly drawing another dart, Nyota took aim again.

It took almost every dart she had, and more than a few shots from her pistol, but at last the big poptop went down, falling with a ground-shaking crash that made her teeth rattle. She jumped down from the ledge. Her sword made short work of the remaining poptops. As soon as she was sure it was safe, Nyota pulled out her Matter Manipulator and checked the screen again; the whole room was reacting, and there was a major concentration right beside her. Nyota looked at the dead adult poptop. “Well,” she said, “I guess that explains why it got so big.”

A bit of rummaging later, Nyota had a collection of sixteen fragments, and a satisfied smile as she pulled her latest find out of its crate. It was a spear, sharp enough to give anything trouble and long enough to keep the most voracious creatures at bay. What a good adventure this had been! Nyota sheathed her sword and gave the spear a whirl, testing its balance.

“Now,” she said, “I feel ready for anything.”

The far edge of the poptop pit had another tower and door, just like the one Nyota had hidden behind, followed by a long climb down in the dark. Her flashlight made finding the next step a bit easier, but Nyota still tensed up with every slight shift as she lowered herself from ledge to ledge. Even her occasional after-hours escapades with Isobu or Muth, which often involved quite a bit of roof-jumping, hadn’t prepared her for this. At least then, they’d been there to catch her if she fell.  _Don’t think. Just do._

Thankfully, the fractured ledges turned into a long steady platform after a dozen meters or so, and then into a gently-sloped staircase. The wood creaked underfoot, but more from being put together crooked than actual instability. At the bottom of the stairs, she found an old oil lantern and relit it, then jumped down the last stretch. One of the miners had left a tent down here, long ago, and another fire cube. In the other direction, the cavern opened over an underground lake, half a dozen crates, and a distant stony wall at the very edge of her flashlight beam.

“End of the road, S.A.I.L.?” Nyota asked, relieving a crate of its contents.

“It would appear so,” the A.I. confirmed. “My sensors are detecting no further core fragments in this area.”

“No need for more of them. I just found the last one.” Nyota tucked her sparkling treasure away and climbed back up the ladder.

**

Back home, after a bit of a nap and something in the way of lunch, Nyota got to work smelting down all the ore she’d found. Copper, iron, silver, even some gold. “I can make fine armor out of this,” she said cheerfully. She’d been talking to herself a lot more since she left Earth. _Well, it’s not exactly talking to myself… There’s still S.A.I.L., right?_

Once she was satisfied with her work, Nyota buckled on her new armor, collected the core fragments, and headed down to the Ancient Gate. S.A.I.L. talked her through the repairs, but it was easy to figure out most of it. She’d dealt with much more complicated systems on her homeworld. “Whoever made this, they weren’t an Apex,” she remarked, standing up and dusting herself off. She hit the power switch and grinned as the gate flared to life. A circular portal opened, showing dark obelisks set with round lights, like some sort of distant sun.

“You appear to have successfully activated the gate,” S.A.I.L. reported. “And it seems another message is coming through.”

The earpiece hummed and clicked. “Please come.” It was the same unknown woman’s voice from before. “I urgently require help; the universe depends on it. Use this Ancient Gateway and meet me in the Ark ruins, just past the Outpost.”

Nyota considered the message. “Well,” she said at last, “either it’s truly urgent, or somebody has quite the flair for the dramatic.” She hefted her spear. “Why not, then? What have I to lose?”

“Do you mean besides your freedom, your sanity, or your life?” S.A.I.L. asked. “Oh. That was a rhetorical question.”

Nyota wasn’t listening. She’d already stepped through the gateway and into another world.


	6. At the Outpost

The gate opened to an identical gate on the far side, but the rest of her surroundings were far from similar. Nyota stared in awe at the vast darkness overhead, pierced with uncountable stars. A red gas giant loomed in the distance; a small, lush moon drifted slowly past its face. “S.A.I.L.?” she asked as soon as she found her voice. “Where am I?”

“My databanks have record of the human phrase, ‘Look before you leap,’” S.A.I.L. remarked. “A strange idiom, considering the human tendency to leap before looking. My sensors… cannot actually read your location, but I am picking up numerous sentient, non-hostile lifeform signals from the general area. You seem to have found a settlement. Well done, you.”

“I’m reprogramming you later,” Nyota told it, mostly out of habit. Well, if nothing here was hostile, there would be no harm in exploring. She could see a low red building at the bottom of the gate’s platform. It was a good place to start.

The entire building was painted a garish red that had faded over years of disuse. According to the flickering neon sign (retro-Earth style) above the entrance, it was called _Infinity Express_. The red billboard beside the station had several prices listed, but surely that currency wasn’t pixels? There had been a couple of old stores like this on Earth; the humans called them gas stations, though none of them sold gas as far as Nyota could tell. Apparently it was a cultural nostalgia thing?

As Nyota approached the main entrance of the Outpost, a woman with aqua hair ran over to her. “Um, excuse me? Miss? Sorry, but, um, your cape… is that the Protectorate symbol?” she asked.

Nyota nodded. “It is,” she confirmed. “I am… well, was a Protector.”

“Was? But you carry a Matter Manipulator. Only Protectors have those” The woman pointed at the orange tool clipped to Nyota’s belt.

Nyota looked away, pushing the memories of Earth's last moments back down. “I was just a graduate,” she said softly. “That monster that destroyed the Earth, it… it attacked in the middle of my graduation ceremony.” It felt strange, talking to someone. She’d been on her own for a week; this was the first time she’d really acknowledged out loud that Earth was gone. It was the first time she’d spoken with someone other than S.A.I.L., too, she realized.

“Wait, you’re a survivor too?” the woman asked, her eyes wide. “I only just barely escaped from Earth as it was torn apart. I’m lucky to be here, but I was starting to think I was the only one that made it…” She smiled, then rubbed her eyes furiously. Nyota was startled to realize that the woman was crying; she was even more startled when she realized her own eyes were wet.

“I’m sorry,” the woman said after a moment. “It’s just… if you survived, there might be others who made it, too. Maybe Earth’s gone, but it’s not over.”

“I hope you’re right,” Nyota replied. She was thinking along the same lines. _If this woman survived, maybe Muth and the others made it to safety. We may never meet again… this galaxy alone is too vast. But even thinking they’re alive…_ Nyota smiled, not caring that the dampness was spilling over her eyelashes now. It hurt a little less.

“Um, well, thank you for listening to me,” the woman said once they’d both dried their eyes a bit. “I’m sure you came here for something other than listening to a refugee’s rambling, right? The Outpost is a great place; all the people here are really nice. I think there’s another Apex who works on the second floor? I’ll be staying here for a while, so just look me up if you need something. My name’s Susa.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Susa,” Nyota said. “I’m Nyota. And thank you.”

*

Susa was right; the Outpost was a great place, in size and content. It reminded Nyota of one of the market buildings she used to visit near the academy, crowded with people of all races and shops of all kinds. Most of the shops were closed; Nyota spotted a particularly peculiar one on the third floor, made out of some manner of shipping crate with a couch on top. How odd.

“Oh! You there! Miss! The Apex with the spear and the lovely cape! Down here, please!”

Startled, Nyota turned around to see a male Apex with black hair and bright green goggles waving at her from a doorway on the second floor. What did he want?

“Ah, yes, thank you for answering,” he said as Nyota approached him. “Sorry for the abrupt salutation, but you have the most exquisite timing. My name is Elliott. I was just hoping another Apex would come along. From your weapons and your demeanor, I’d say you’re an explorer, yes?”

“I suppose I am,” Nyota said cautiously, eyeing his clothing. The white lab coat was all too similar to a Miniknog scientist uniform.

Elliott followed her gaze and sheepishly scratched his ear. “Oh. I should have realized this would cause problems. Do not worry, I am not affiliated with our oppressive overlords. I escaped from them years ago. This lab coat is just the only clothing I have that is at all suited to what I’m working on, and as it turns out, public nudity is a crime among humans. Who knew?”

Nyota laughed, relaxing a bit. “Alright, how can I help you?”

“I’ve been developing technology that will enable the user to swiftly dash from one point to another,” he explained, leading her into a well-lit room and pointing at the rotating data-chip display that occupied a good portion of the space, “but I am lacking a few crucial components for my prototype. Could you help me? I’ve tried asking the humans around here, but I think this really needs an Apex’s ingenuity. None of them understood my diagram.”

“Their alphabet is quite different from ours,” Nyota mused, looking closer at the hologram. “I’m not surprised they could not help. Hm... this is really quite the clever concept. I will see if I can find what you need.”

“You’ve brought me the parts! Wonderful!” Elliott exclaimed when Nyota returned an hour later and passed him the parcel of odds and ends. “With these, the Dash Tech should be ready for action, but there’s only one way to be sure… It needs to be properly tested before I can go into mass-production. I know you don’t want to hear this from someone who is dressed up like one of the Miniknog, but would you mind putting it through its paces on my obstacle course? I promise the obstacles are strictly non-lethal! If you succeed, I’d be happy to give you the prototype. It’s the least I can do for your help.”

Nyota considered the offer. Elliott was quite right about the unpleasant Miniknog associations… but that was a long time ago. The fear wasn’t fresh anymore. _Don’t think. Just do._ Extra mobility would have been greatly helpful down in the abandoned mine, and it would probably come in handy later. “I have come this far,” she said. “I may as well finish.”

Elliott’s obstacle course was very cleverly designed. He’d rigged up timed doors across the whole thing; it took all the speed Nyota could muster, even with the Dash Tech, to make it through them in time. The last set of doors was really tricky. He’d set up a few cryogenic blasters in the way. Nyota watched them, learned their timing, and leapt for the exit.

“Welcome back!” Elliott said cheerfully when Nyota walked back into his little lab, shaking ice out of her hair. “The Dash Tech appears to be functioning perfectly. Hm…” He looked up at the rotating data chip hologram, then back at Nyota. “I know I have asked a lot already, but I do have other prototypes that need testing. The way you handled that obstacle course, it was inspiring! Almost like you were born for it. I am sure these would be put to very good use in your hands. What do you say?”

Nyota shrugged. Why not? “Let’s see what you’ve got, then, Elliott.”

As it turned out, he was quite right. The tech was wonderful. Pulse Jump gave her a midair boost; it might also help mitigate a nasty fall if she got the timing right. Distortion Sphere proved more entertaining than functional, some manner of matter-energy conversion temporarily compressing her into a little rolling ball, but with a few minutes at Elliott’s lab after the obstacle course, Nyota successfully modified it to allow for wall climbing.

“Hm, you _are_ good at this,” Elliott observed, watching her work. “It’s like you have done this before. I do not mean to pry, but were you, by chance, a member of the rebellion?”

“I was never a rebel,” Nyota said, keeping her eyes fixed on the hologram as she finished a particularly delicate bit of wiring, “but I’ve been through a few of their camps. They’re clever people. Thank you for letting me use your computer, Mr. Elliott.”

At about that point, her earpiece chimed. “Miss Nyota? I’ve finally gotten a fix on the source of that radio message. The coordinates should be available from your Matter Manipulator,” S.A.I.L. announced.

Elliott stared at her, his face going pale. “’Miss Nyota?’ As in Nyota… Saimiri? But you... your file—”

Nyota stood up, quickly switching off her earpiece’s speaker. “Well done, S.A.I.L. Mr. Elliott, thank you again for your help. I’ll be sure to put these to good use. I’d love to speak with you more later.” She smiled, though it didn’t quite get past the unspoken warning in her eyes. “I have a few suggestions for modifying the Pulse Jump and Dash Tech. But right now, I’m afraid that I have an appointment with an old woman about saving the universe.” She hoped he’d still be there when she got back; she hadn’t had this much fun in _years_.


	7. Esther

It was dark and foreboding at the far side of the asteroid, past all the shops (and the strange shady man who employed Penguins). Nyota switched on her flashlight as she entered the tall archways; the glowing discs and luminous floor strip lit the area well enough, but the flashlight helped. She stopped at the very edge of the platform and shone the light down the stairs; it was a long way down.

The light-strips resumed at the bottom of the stairs, but Nyota wasn’t paying attention to them. She stared open-mouthed at the vast holograms that lined the clearly-ancient plaza. They were similar in style to old Avian historical paintings, but carved out of light instead of stone. Even modern holo-tech couldn’t manage such crisp, sharp lines. The first image was a faceless figure that held planets around its head. _Is this to scale? It must have been massive…_

The second image was horrible, a one-eyed tentacle beast smashing planets apart. Nyota shuddered. It reminded her all too well of what had happened to the Earth. _I hope I never meet anything like that again_.

More stairs led up to something that looked very much like the Ancient Gateway that had brought her here, but Nyota circled around the bottom of the stairs first; there were more holograms on the other side. The third hologram gave her hope; it showed the faceless figure pushing the tentacle beast into some vast vortex. If this was indeed history, then she didn’t have to worry about the monster now. But then she remembered the fate of the Earth; if this beast here had been sealed away, then what was that one? She didn’t want to even think that there could be more than one. She hurried on to the last hologram. It showed six humanoid figures; she could easily recognize the human, Floran, Hylotl, and Glitch. One of the others resembled what Miniknog textbooks claimed the proto-Apex had looked like, and the last one was probably Avian. Each one was holding a luminous circle. What was this supposed to depict?

Standing around staring was not going to get her answers, and her Manipulator’s screen said the signal was coming from above her. Nyota climbed the stairs, then stopped, dumbfounded, at the base of the gate. It was more massive than anything she had expected; the shape and design were similar to the Ancient Gate, but this one was sealed shut. The giant stone slab in the center bore a stylized inscription of a seven-rayed sun with round incisions between the rays. Nyota couldn’t help but wonder if something was meant to go in those slots. Around the slab, giant runes, each one easily half her height, ringed the whole image. They were clearly some manner of writing, but not any writing she knew. Looming over the whole scene was a vast sculpture; it was impossible to see it clearly, but Nyota could make out a humanoid figure to the left and giant swirling shapes on the right, dark against the stars.

“Admiring the gate, dear? It _is_ a wonder, isn’t it?”

Nyota jumped and whirled around, her hand dropping to the sword at her hip. The Apex had been so engrossed in the carvings that she hadn’t even noticed someone else was present. An old human woman with massive round glasses was sitting on a hovering chair in front of the gate, smiling at her. She laughed, not unkindly, at Nyota’s dumbfounded expression.

“It’s quite alright, dear,” she said. “It had that effect on me, too. This is the Ark. Would you like a mint humbug?”

Nyota relaxed slightly and took the offered sweet. “Are you the one who sent that message through the Ancient Gateway?” she asked, twisting the wrapper.

The old woman nodded. “That I am. So you’re the one who mended the Gateway. Well done! And is that a Matter Manipulator you’re carrying?”

She talked very fast; Nyota just nodded, still trying to process what was going on.

The old woman smiled. “Excellent, so you’re a Protector!” Then her expression faded into a look of great sadness. “I’m sorry to say, perhaps the last, after the… The terrible destruction of the Earth… It’s sadly inevitable that we should meet now…”

Nyota held up a hand. “I’m sorry if this is rude, but who is _we_? Your face is familiar, but I’ve only heard your voice though that gate, and I’m not exactly used to meeting strange old women inside strange old ruins. Um, no offense meant,” she added. Humans could be touchy about age.

The old woman laughed again. “None taken, dear. My name is Esther Bright, retired Grand Protector. It’s no wonder you don’t know me. I left some years ago; and impossible decision, but my research could not be neglected. I discovered things long forgotten that weigh heavy on the present.”

“Things… related to what happened to Earth, then?” Nyota asked. She had an awful almost-premonition creeping down her spine.

Esther nodded and looked up at the massive gate behind them. “Would you like to sit down, dear? It’s a bit of a long story.”

 

“Long ago,” Esther began, pointing at the first hologram below them, “there was a force known as the Cultivator. It maintained balance in the universe. Under its influence, harmony reigned. So it was for aeons. But this tranquility proved finite. A being arose, one of hate and destruction.” Her expression turned grim as she pointed at the second image, the tentacled monster. “It was the Ruin.”

Nyota felt a chill run down her spine.

“The Ruin could not abide life in any form, and reaped destruction upon the universe,” Esther continued, looking up at the carvings on the gate above them. “It fought to blot out all life, and would have succeeded, but for the sacrifice of the Cultivator.”

The old woman pointed to the third hologram now, the one that showed the great vortex. “The Cultivator rose against the Ruin, and succeeded in sealing it away. But in doing so, the Cultivator exhausted its power completely. Before its last energies dissipated, the Cultivator gifted six chosen races with precious artifacts.” She indicated the final hologram. “These six artifacts, when united, form the key that opens the gate to the Ruin. The defenses are crumbling. We must unite the artifacts, reach the Ruin, and truly destroy it.”

Nyota was silent for a long time. She saw it all so clearly, still... Long tentacles like in the holograms, but pulsing and red, ripping apart concrete and steel, the smoke and screams... Eventually she said, in a very small voice, “It’s what destroyed the Earth, isn’t it? It found a crack in the seal. If even this great Cultivator could not really slay that thing, what chance would we have?” She looked down at her large, strong hands, hands that suddenly seemed so frail.

Esther patted her arm. “Even if we don’t have a chance, isn’t it better to go down fighting? I know this is a lot to take in, and a huge request to make of you… But I would like your help. I might have been Grand Protector once, but I’m just an old woman now. The artifacts are scattered across the stars. I can’t find them alone. We must find them and eradicate the Ruin, before other planets go the way of the Earth.”

Nyota didn’t meet Esther’s gaze. She took the flower out of her hair, the flower she’d picked on her last day on Earth, and twirled it between her fingers. _Isobu would have fought_. She closed her eyes and tucked the flower back into its place. _And so will I._ She stood up and offered Esther her hand. “I don’t know what I can offer, but I’ll do whatever I can,” she said.

Esther’s face broke into a warm smile. She grasped Nyota’s hand. “Thank you for joining me, dear. With your help I know we can triumph. First things first though, dear; you need a ship in good working order. I assume you do have a ship?”

Nyota nodded. “Life support is working fine, but its FTL drive is shot,” she explained.

“That won’t do at all. Who knows how far you’ll have to travel before we’re done…” Esther muttered, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I think you should return to the Outpost and speak to Penguin Pete, the shipyard captain. If he gives you trouble, tell him Esther Bright sent you. He owes me a favor from my Protectorate days.”

As it turned out, Nyota didn’t need to call in that favor. Penguin Pete looked at the Matter Manipulator on her belt, listened to her description of the problem, and said, “I’ll see what I can do, lass. I can repair that ship, but it’s gonna take 20 Erchius crystals … You’d better get yerself over to the Erchius Mining Facility. I’ve sent the location’s coordinates to yer ship’s S.A.I.L.”

“Thank you, Penguin Pete. I’ll be back soon.” _Needs 20 Erchius crystals? But any ship dealer should have easy access to that… Did something happen at the mine?_


	8. Moontant Misadventures

The entrance of the mining facility was dark, and the door was sealed shut. It was a very simple security system; Nyota had it figured out in just a few seconds and got the door opened. But it still worried her. Not much was known about Erchius beyond that it made FTL travel possible, but she was fairly certain that locking the miners in wasn’t standard practice. All the lights were out in the first room, too. Something wasn’t right here.

S.A.I.L. chimed quietly in her ear. “All life readings emanate from a great depth below the surface,” it reported. “The readings are… Difficult to define. Congratulations in advance for your courage.”

“S.A.I.L., can you tell me what’s going on here?” Nyota whispered. Something told her it would be a bad idea to raise her voice in here.

“It appears lockdown has been instigated. You must find a breaker to restore full power. Please proceed with caution in conditions of low light.”

“Yes, I gathered that much, but what caused… never mind. I have a feeling I’ll find out anyway,” Nyota grumbled, drawing her pistol and switching on her flashlight.

Sealed doors blocked her path down and further right, but Nyota spotted an open air duct in the ceiling and climbed inside. She crawled a few meters along and dropped down into a small room. A big pile of rubble blocked the middle of the floor, but she spotted a switch on the far wall and hurried over. That must be the circuit breaker. Forgetting caution completely, Nyota flipped the switch. Something squelched behind her.

Nyota whirled around and barely stifled a scream as she spotted some sort of squashy pink horror standing on the rubble pile. Worse, it spotted her. With a horribly bubbly snarl, it charged. Nyota fired off a few shots tore thin gashes through its oozing hide, then jumped over it and speared the thing in the back. It melted into a pile of steaming goop with a pathetic wail.

“S.A.I.L, what the _hell_ was that thing?” Nyota demanded. It looked all too human… and all too _not._

“Error. Unknown lifeform…” S.A.I.L. whirred as she dashed down the now-open passageway. Two more of the awful things were milling about outside. They spotted her and held up their hands, spraying an absolutely vile-smelling red slime at her. Nyota dodged as best she could; it burned worse than snaunt spit where a bit tagged her cheek. Her spear made short work of them before they could fire again.

“I detect both Erchius chemical signatures and human DNA in these entities. High likelihood of behavioral volatility predicted,” S.A.I.L. reported as Nyota flicked gunk off her blade.

“Human… these things are human?” Nyota tightened her grip on the spear shaft. It was too much like the old labs…

“I am not sure. Calculation 45% probability… readings are distorted by the high levels of Erchius and their physical instability. They may have simply absorbed the DNA from the miners.”

The Apex shuddered. Even the Miniknog labs hadn’t been as horrible as this. At least those mutants didn’t _eat_ people. _By the stars, I hope someone survived this. …I hope_ I _survive this._

_-_

Smooth hallways quickly gave way to rough, rocky caverns and more of the horrifying pink monsters. Nyota realized quickly that their red spray attack had a better reach than she’d thought and started using her pistol instead of her spear to wear them down from a safe distance. She didn’t want to think about how they made that spray. At least it only burned when fresh.

There was a bunker ahead; probably one of the mining junctions? Nyota hurried forward, then froze as she heard something loud behind it. _Gunshots?_ Wrenching the door open, the Apex spotted a pink mutant inside and fired three shots into its hide. A terrified-looking miner slowly lowered her own weapon as the thing crumpled into slime. “How… who are you?” she stammered.

“Nyota Saimiri,” Nyota said. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you. I probably wouldn’t have been if you hadn’t shown up. Rocks? I can deal with those. Fleshy mutants? Not so much.” The woman laughed nervously. “But you really shouldn’t be here. The place is on lockdown, and it’s really dangerous… I lost contact with the miners below. I don’t even know if anyone’s alive. Hey, maybe _I’m_ not alive… this is an awful way to be a ghost,” she added with another laugh.

“You’ll be fine,” Nyota told her. She didn’t want to leave this woman alone, but in her current state she’d only get them both killed by those mutants. “You’ve made it this long. I’m going deeper; I need Erchius crystals, and there might still be miners down there. You stay here, and stay safe. Here, this might help.” Nyota rummaged around in her pocket and produced a bar of chocolate. She passed it to the miner, who took it with a nod of thanks.

“Stay safe,” she echoed.

The tunnels forked up ahead; Nyota took the lower route, but only ran into more of the mutants. She was getting pretty good at avoiding their attacks now. A bit of a climb brought her to another bunker door. She pried it open, and immediately joined the two trapped miners there in bringing down a small horde.

“You have great timing,” one of the miners called, shaking ooze off his shoes, “but how’d you get down here? The facility is on lockdown!”

“A few keystrokes and too many bullets,” Nyota replied, which earned her a tired grin.

“So, you heard our distress signal, then? Our comms died as soon as the facility went on lockdown,” the man explained. He gratefully accepted the offered chocolate bar and passed half to his friend.

Nyota shook her head. “No, I didn’t get a distress signal… I just needed Erchius to repair my ship, and the shipyard captain sent me your way.”

The miner shrugged. “Luck, then? I’ll take what I can get. You’d need to go deeper in to find the really good crystals and the mining machine, but something’s up down there… A team went down there on regular shift a few days ago. They never came back, and then this happened. If you’re sure about it, though, I guess there’s no way I can stop you?”

Nyota shook her head. She really wasn’t that sure about it, but she didn’t see any alternative. Besides, even if there was no Protectorate, she was a Protector. _To protect our fellow beings,_ that was what Leda Portia had said. She’d do whatever she could.

“In that case, maybe I can help out?” the miner offered. “I’d only slow you down out there, but there was a funny room we dug up a little while back. The door was sealed shut… but there’s another little room above us with a lever inside. You can see it through the glass roof,” he said, pointing up. Sure enough, Nyota could see a narrow tunnel directly above them. “There’s another just like it just a bit deeper in the caverns. I think the levers are connected to that other little room. Might be something useful in there, maybe a way to get out of this.”

“Got it. Thanks.” Nyota followed his directions and pulled the lever, then headed deeper into the mine.

-

“Erchius readings have reached 94 rad. You are in peril,” S.A.I.L. noted as Nyota headed in deeper. “Your Peril level is currently 14,607 morts.”

“…Peril level? SAIL, did you make that up just now?” Nyota asked as she cleaned her pistol. _Dang monster gunk._

“Sorry about the AI, dear,” Esther’s voice remarked, crackling in over SAIL’s channel.

“Grand Protector? Did you hack SAIL’s comms?” Nyota tilted the gun and let the last of the pinkish goo dribble out, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Hopefully that would keep it from jamming.

“Grand Protector?” Esther remarked. “Oh, does that bring back memories! I haven’t been called that in years! Please, just call me Esther, dear. I’m not exactly a Protector anymore.”

“ _Once a Protector, always a Protector,”_ Nyota quoted. “You said that yourself at your retirement speech, Esther. And you’re avoiding the question of hacking…”

The old woman laughed. “Well now, you have a wonderful memory! But I can’t share all my old secrets yet, that would take far too long. Do watch your step up ahead. SAIL’s readings are getting rather… odd.”

The red metal beams clanked loudly underfoot as Nyota dropped from ledge to ledge; it reminded her far too much of the old mine with its creaky rotten planks. Fortunately, these were solid durasteel and showing no corrosion yet. _I must be getting close to the active digging site,_ Nyota thought as she pried another hatch open. The structure looked a lot newer and showed no sign of sediment buildup like the other two had.

She climbed through the next hatch as silently as possible, then froze as something behind her growled. Nyota whirled, pistol raised, to see another mutant charging at her. Something was off about this one; it was dressed just like the miners she’d met earlier, and it hefted a massive hammer as it ran. Nyota slammed her fist into the release of the door behind her and backed away as fast as she could, emptying round after round into its gelatinous hide. It was a lot tougher than the ones she’d faced before.

“Look at them: prolonged contact with the Erchius crystals seems to have denatured their very being! The poor creatures have lost themselves completely,” Esther said.

“You mean this _thing_ was a person once?” Nyota asked, switching to her spear to finish it off. _I was right._ It had never felt so awful to be right.

Nyota breathed out a long sigh of relief as it dissolved into sludge with one last long, furious wail. “Is this… normal, Esther? Do the miners usually… end up like this?”

“I don’t think so,” Esther replied after a few moments. “At least, I’ve never heard of it happening before. The level of Erchius and the amount of time it would take for a full, irreversible transformation are simply too large for this to be accidental.”

Nyota didn’t much like that idea either.

The passage to her left led to another bunker, this one occupied by three survivors. “I’m glad someone finally came for us,” the de facto leader said, helping Nyota up through the floor hatch. “After comms were cut, I was starting to wonder if we were going to ever make it off this moon.”

“They were cut? Did those things—”

The man shook his head. “No, they’re not smart enough for that, even the… recent ones.” He was clearly shaken, and disgusted. “Letheia doesn’t want word to get out about what their company dug up. We got this transmission,” he said, passing her [a strip of paper](http://starbounder.org/Emergency_Lockdown), “right after our site supervisor put out the call.”

Nyota read the letter silently, then handed it back. The words were all too familiar. She’d never really bothered looking into Letheia before now, but doomed laboratories were often sent the same sort of message by the Miniknog. “Do you know what did all this? One of the other survivors said they’d sent a team down here, but he didn’t know anything else.”

“Someone else is still alive, then?” the man asked, a tired smile forming. “Glad to hear it. And yeah, I’ve seen the damned thing. It’s a big hunk of rock, like living raw erchius, but there’s this big eye inside… one of our crew managed to crack it with a laser cannon. He… well.”

“I see. Thank you,” Nyota said.

“Wait. You’re not going to try and fight it, are you?” he asked. “You’d have to be insanely fast! That thing is terrifying!”

Nyota hefted her spear and opened the exit. “I don’t see any other option. Stay here. I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

The survivors looked at each other. Their leader nodded. “If you really have to go, we, um, we found something helpful,” one of the others said. “There’s a lever up above this room. It’ll take quite a climb to get to, but I think it’s connected to a room we found not long before all this began. You might find something there that can kill that thing.”

Sure enough, Nyota’s flashlight caught something shiny far above the exit. _No way my ropes can get me up there,_ she thought. _But the Sphere tech…_ Activating Elliott’s invention, Nyota climbed up the wall and pulled the lever. She wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not, but she could have sworn she heard something click far below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering what Nyota looks like, [this is my favorite version](https://nyotasaimiri.tumblr.com/post/157691153321/i-may-have-been-absolutely-freaking-inspired-by)


	9. Eighteen Thousand Morts

Several more corrupted miners attacked Nyota as she delved deeper into the tunnels, but she knew how to deal with them now and took them out with her spear before they had time to swing at her. The air was much heavier down here; everything had a faint violet glow, even the dust she kicked up as she hurried across the metal. Then, abruptly, the tunnels ended, opening over a deep chasm in the rock.

Nyota didn’t need SAIL’s scanning abilities to know what was down there. The glow told her well enough. But just as she steeled herself to start the climb, something caught her eye. There was a little passageway on the far side of the platform. It was too small for her to crawl through now, but as a Distortion Sphere she might manage. It seemed to lead down into the crevice, too. _It’s safer than jumping and hoping Pulse Jump will catch me,_ she thought.

The tunnel twisted back and forth on merciless switchbacks as it snaked its way through the rock; Nyota was horribly dizzy when she finally reached the bottom. As soon as the room stopped spinning, she noticed a strange blue glow from deeper in the room. The glow seemed to be coming from strange symbols carved into the wall… And below them was an open doorway. _This must be the room the miners mentioned._

The door led to a dark room; the walls and floor were made of carved stone bricks, their designs eerily familiar. She’d seen the same sort of marks, the same sort of stone, on the Ancient Gateway and the Ark. “Esther,” she whispered, “do you see this?”

“Your visual’s a bit fuzzy,” Esther said. “Ah, there we go… Oh my. This is quite the discovery.”

“Yes, but what is it?” Nyota asked, pointing her light higher. There were symbols etched in the wall, very similar to the ones that formed the Ark’s border. “It’s… like some kind of message.”

“I wish I could tell you, dear, but no one’s ever managed to translate them before,” the old woman said. “Every time I come close, something always seems to elude me.”

 _I wonder…_ The Apex started to move in for a better look, then tripped over something low and hard. “Ouch!” She caught her flashlight and pointed it back at the ground; some sort of chest sat there, glowing innocently. Nyota glared at it, then realized it was a bit silly to glare at an inanimate object and opened it instead. It was almost empty; despite the chest’s size, all she found inside was a strange teardrop-shaped stone. Lines and dots were etched around the rim, but not in any sort of coherent order.

It was clear she wasn’t going to find anything else of use here. Stowing the stone away, Nyota headed back into the mines.

**

The room with the glowing numbers opened out onto a ledge about halfway down the chasm; thanks to light from the glowing crystals embedded in the walls around her, Nyota jumped easily from platform to metal platform as she headed deeper. Erchius dust burned in her lungs and the eerie light felt like a solid weight on her fur. Nyota coughed violently.

“Erchius readings have reached 101 rad. Your current Peril level is 18,472 morts…” SAIL reported.

“Hush!” Esther scolded. “You’re not helping.”

“Thank you for the input, SAIL. I think I’ve noticed,” Nyota rasped, wrapping her cape around her face like a makeshift scarf. She really wanted some water right now, but that would have to wait until all this was over.

At the bottom of the chasm, an ominous black door blocked her way. It opened soundlessly at her touch. Nyota dropped through, and gasped.

It was massive. The miner’s description had in no way prepared her for the sheer size of the thing that hung in the middle of the room like a god’s gaudy chandelier. Then its red, red eye fixed on her. Light flickered in the air. Nyota ran.

Beams of light forced her to keep moving as she tried to fire at the horror. Her bullets ricocheted right off its hard facets with no effect. “SAIL! A little help?”

“Conventional weapons have an estimated 0% chance of damaging the Erchius crystal,” the AI said. “You are invited to devise another means of attack.”

“Why weren’t you programmed to _not_ state the obvious?” she panted, ducking as a ray singed her fur. Her back felt strangely cold where it had almost touched her.  _Another means… the miner mentioned some sort of cannon, but where… There!_

As the light died down, Nyota sprinted as fast as she could to the center of the room. There was a white mechanism directly below the crystal; some kind of meter flickered along the main shaft, half-lit. She’d seen this device before, in the academy’s manuals: a laser-based mining drill. The lights were its charge. Looking along the walls, Nyota spotted four lights, two blue and two red. Those would be the power circuits. At about that point, the violet sparks began to form around her again. Nyota ran as fast as she could, hitting the switches below the two red lights, then dropping off the high platform and kicking the laser into action.

It worked! The cannon shrieked as power shot along its coils and crashed into the Erchius crystal, shattering huge chunks right off! Whatever was inside the crystal screamed.

A mutant spawned from the crystal and charged at Nyota, but the Apex just knocked it off the walkway and hit the nearest switch again. That one shot had emptied the cannon’s charge. The rays from the crystal were faster now. She’d made it angry. But it was showing visible damage now; a second blast sent deep fissures through its shell.

The eye fixed on her again and suddenly the lights were all around her. Nyota felt the air go cold as the lights materialized; instead of rotating around, they focused inward, aiming right at her. _I’m dead…_

But the beams stopped just above and below. The creature inside the crystal couldn’t focus the light past its own facets. It shrieked in rage as its energy beams winked out. Nyota practically dove off the ledge, and fired the laser one last time.

With a deafening crack, the giant crystal exploded. Relief washed over Nyota, as did exhaustion; she leaned on her spear as she watched the violet shards rain down around her. There was a thump behind her.

The miner stood up, shaking crystal chunks off his hard hat, and ran over to her. “You destroyed the monster!” he exclaimed, looking like he wanted to hug her for a moment. He stopped, then held out his hand instead. “Thank you so much. After I set the cannon off, I was trapped inside it. It would have mutated me like the rest…”

“I’m glad you’re safe,” Nyota said, accepting the handshake.

The miner looked up at the exit of the cave. “Did anyone else in this mine survive the attack?” he asked. “For that matter, how did you get down here? You don’t look like a Letheia employee.”

“I ran into six others on my way down here,” Nyota reported. “There might be others. I needed Erchius crystals to repair my ship, so I beamed in to see if you had any for sale.”

The miner stared at her, then laughed. “Sheer dumb luck? I don’t believe it! Well, ma’am, I’m sorry to say that we can’t sell you any Erchius. No, none for sale at all. After all you’ve done for us, you can have it for free! I need to get back to the others, but you should be able to find the mining drill up there. Thank you again!”

Following the miner’s instructions, Nyota activated the massive red machine and waited patiently as it roared to life. In moments, it had spat out a magnificent trove of Erchius crystal.

“Well done!” Esther exclaimed.

“There is enough Erchius here to fully repair the ship,” SAIL said. It sounded very pleased. Nyota collected her spoils and headed for the teleporter; she hoped the miners would be alright, but there wasn’t much else she could do now to help them, and after all she’d seen she couldn’t wait to leave this place behind.

Still, she couldn’t help smiling as the teleporter hummed to life. One step closer.


	10. Searching for Florans

Pete might have looked like the shady sort, but he was good for his word. As soon as Nyota got the crystals to him, he got his crew to work. Her ship’s warp drive was repaired in what felt like moments. After thanking the shipyard captain, Nyota hurried back to report in with Esther.

“This is excellent news!” Esther exclaimed when Nyota told her the results. “Now the entire galaxy is open to you. How wonderful!”

“So, what’s our first target?” Nyota asked. She looked up at the Gate, at the six empty slots. They gave her purpose, at least. She needed that more than anything right now.

Esther smiled. “I’m glad you’re so enthusiastic about this, dear. Let me see… Yes, the Floran one first.” She pointed at the third slot from the bottom. “I don’t know precisely where it is, but their colonies will contain vital clues to its whereabouts. Floran live all over nowadays, but still prefer the dense forest vegetation of planets found around gentle stars.”

“Gentle stars?” Nyota remembered the warm gleam above her little base. “The planet where I found the Ancient Gate is in a gentle system, I believe.”

“Then you’ve already got a head start,” Esther said. “Good luck dear, and thank you.”

-

Nyota unlocked the control room door and settled comfortably in the captain’s chair; the little red weasel immediately scooted up her leg to beg for attention. A quick survey of the star system (interrupted briefly by scratching her pet’s ears) brought up the nearest planet: a desert world referred to only as Mimosa Strand II. SAIL’s notes listed it as “a relatively safe landing site.”

SAIL’s notes were wrong. Nyota didn’t even have time to recover from teleportation dizziness before diving for cover to avoid a sudden hail of gunfire. A voice shouted above her, “I bet you drop lots of pixels!”

The Apex groaned. _Of course. Bandits._

_**_

The bandits turned out to be a lot more bark than bite. Nyota settled on the bench in their campsite, rubbing salve along the cuts they’d given her, and pulled up SAIL’s scan of the area. “I really do need to reprogram you,” she remarked, examining the geological readings, “if you count a bandit ambush as ‘relatively safe.’”

“You were given more trouble in your first self-defense class at the Protectorate. They were not comparatively dangerous,” SAIL replied. “I must say, I was not aware that spears were so effective against enemies armed with guns, given the usual results of stone-age weapons against firearms. Well done, you.”

“You’re just trying to cover your mistake,” Nyota scolded. “Flattery will get you nowhere. And just sitting here bantering with you will get _me_ nowhere. Make yourself useful and work on ship maintenance while I’m gone. I don’t know how it handled that first jump.”

The desert proved to be, like many deserts she had heard of, mostly barren, though it was far from empty. Nyota watched the wildlife scuffing up food from the sand or munching on bits of cactus. She tried a bit of cactus with her lunch when the sun rose too high to explore any further; it was oddly pleasant, if tricky to eat without impaling a finger. But she didn’t find anything more than a dusty old house until well after nightfall.

And then she saw the statue.

It was only the size of an average Floran, but it was set on a high pedestal that made it tower over everything below. The torches beneath it gave it a flickering, menacing appearance though the gloom. Just a short way beyond, Nyota could see the first of many low mounds, a door set in its western edge. “Esther,” she said, switching her earpiece back on, “I’ve found them. What am I looking for, precisely?”

“Hm… well, Floran don’t pay much attention to history, but they greatly value tradition,” the old woman replied. “It’s helpful to build a picture of the culture. Try talking to some of them, or scanning anything particularly important-looking with your Matter Manipulator.”

The Florans proved enthusiastic gossips. “Floran hear huge beasst was captured for this year’s Hunt!” the first inhabitant hissed happily as Nyota walked up.

“Hunt?” Nyota asked.

The Floran laughed; Nyota was glad she’d spent a few years getting used to Muthoni’s laughter at the academy. It sent a chill down her spine. “Yes, ssilly! Hunt! Big hunt, every year! Floran is the best! Well, sssecond best. You ever hear of Nuru?”

Nyota shook her head, which earned another laugh. “Sssilly monkeyman,” the Floran said.

The other Florans were also happy to chatter at Nyota, though only some of it proved useful; most of them seemed absurdly enthusiastic to see a non-Floran wandering among them. They seemed especially fascinated by her long hair. “Monkeyman foliage so sssoft!” one of them exclaimed.

“Foliage?” Nyota asked as soon as she was out of earshot.

“They’re probably confused by the flower in your hair, dear,” Esther said. Nyota could hear the smile in her voice.

Everything in the village seemed either made of bone or held together with bone fragments. “They’re a lot more clever with building than the Miniknog textbooks give them credit for,” Nyota observed, inspecting a strange-looking frame. “I can barely see the seams at all. These bone nails are even better than iron. They won’t rust and corrode the wood.” She poked the frame; it didn’t wobble at all. Some of the nasty greenish stuff on the frame dribbled onto her finger and the Apex immediately jerked back, rubbing frantically at it.

“What’s wrong, dear?” Esther asked.

“Ugh… it’s some sort of foul webbing. It’s stuck to my fur,” Nyota complained, finally prying the goo off.

“Could you scan it? Ah, thank you. This glutinous webbing is of unusual hue and texture. The species that produced it must be unique in its characteristics, and probably limited in its environment. This is an excellent find, dear!”

As Nyota left the little hut, a slender Floran dressed in a long white robe approached her; the Floran wore a strange headpiece that seemed to be made from elegantly curved branches and bone. “Greetings, stranger,” the Floran said. “I am the Greenfinger of this tribe. Were you looking for something?”

“Hello, Greenfinger,” Nyota replied, bowing respectfully. “I was trying to learn more about Floran history and culture.”

The Greenfinger smiled. “If half my Florans showed the same interest as you, stranger, I would have a much easier job,” she said. “I’d be happy to assist you. It’s very rare for us to have a visitor that wants to learn.”

**

“…and the Florans do this every year?” Nyota asked, gingerly sipping the peculiar (but tasty) berry juice the Greenfinger had offered her.

“Of course! No Floran could resist a chance to prove themselves the most powerful and mighty hunter!” the Greenfinger explained, draining her own juice cup with considerable relish. “It also stops them bickering about who’s the best.” She waved a free hand at an old, beautifully-carved spear on top of a low cabinet. “That’s the spear I used when I tried it myself, years ago. I didn’t win, but at least I got a look at the ceremonial bone.”

“A ceremonial bone?” Nyota leaned forward.

The Greenfinger nodded. “Yes, it’s the prize you get for winning the hunt! The winner gets the Ceremonial Bone, until they get bored of it, and bragging rights for a full year. Of course, no one’s managed to claim that in a long time… Ever since huntress Nuru started winning, no one’s been able to beat her, and she’s not interested in the bone.” The Greenfinger tilted her head to one side and smirked. “Ah, is that a glint in your eye, stranger? Don’t try to hide it. I am a Floran too, you know, even if I don’t talk like one. I know that feeling. You want to participate in the Hunt!”

 _That was… not what I expected. But it’s an excellent chance._ “I admit that I am curious about it,” Nyota said. “But I’m an Apex. I don’t even know where this Hunt is held, or if I’d be allowed to participate.”

“We have had a few non-Florans in the past,” the Greenfinger said, waving her hand as if dismissing the problem. “It is not too unusual. I can contact the Greenfinger who is holding it this year for you and let him know. As for location… You are a star-traveller, yes? You have the look of one, and wear the Protectorate’s mark. I’m sure you can find it! Consider it a test, to see if you’re worthy. Of course, most Florans would fail this sort of test… we are not a patient race,” the Greenfinger added with a laugh. “But Apex are strong in different ways. The Hunt is a test of _all_ your strengths.”

Nyota smiled, stood up, and bowed. “I thank you for your hospitality, Greenfinger,” she said. “I will try my best in the Hunt.”

The Greenfinger returned her smile. “Fight well.”

Outside, Nyota tapped her earpiece, turning the speaker back on. “So, Esther,” she asked, “did you get all that?”

“I did indeed!” the old woman exclaimed. “You did it, Nyota! That was the last clue we needed. I know just where the Floran artifact is now. Come meet me at the Ark.”

The stairs down to the ruins were just as dark and foreboding as before, but Nyota was getting used to them now. She hurried up to the base of the Gate to find the former Grand Protector. “Here I am, Esther. So… what did you discover?”

Esther looked up from her notes. “Perfect timing, as ever. Judging from the clues you gathered, and your talk with that wonderfully helpful Greenfinger, the Floran artifact is enshrined in the Ceremonial Hunting Grounds. I’m fairly certain it’s the Ceremonial Bone she mentioned. You’ll need to compete in the ritual hunt to get it. May I upload the coordinates to your SAIL? Silly thing won’t let me give it coordinates right now without your permission.”

The Apex smiled a little. “It’s probably sulking from you hacking its comms during that incident at the Mining Facility . I’ll patch you in properly for this adventure. Go ahead and upload the coordinates while I finish my preparations. The sooner I find this artifact, the sooner we can deal with the Ruin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the shortest clue hunt by far. We'll be starting the Ceremonial Hunting Grounds tomorrow.


	11. The Ceremonial Hunting Grounds

Teleporting always made Nyota terribly dizzy. She was very grateful when nothing started shooting at her this time. As soon as the stars cleared from her vision, she looked around; there wasn’t much to see, not clearly. The place looked like an old ruin of some sort, though it was clearly still well-used, judging by the active fires in the torches in front of her. She could hear voices up ahead; they didn’t seem to be hostile yet. Creeping closer, she recognized the hissing rasp of Floran speech. None of them seemed armed (which was never a guarantee with a Floran, but made her feel less nervous), and all of them were waiting for something.

“These ruins are ancient and appear to be sacred to the Floran,” SAIL observed as Nyota stepped into the firelight, drawing the Florans’ stares. “Readings show they are also dark and ominous.”

“Duly noted, SAIL,” Nyota muttered, then gave the nearest Floran what she hoped was a friendly nod.

The Floran showed her teeth in a relatively friendly manner. “Are you here from ssspace to join the Hunt?” she asked. “You better get going!” The other Florans all started chattering at her at once; Nyota barely managed to catch the words _stranger, late,_ and _Nuru_ as she was bustled along toward a tall wooden gate.

“The Hunt is down there?” she asked the first Floran.

“Yesss! Go, ssstranger is late! The Hunt beginsss!” the Floran hissed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

The gate led to a small chamber with a rickety-looking wooden elevator set into the wall. Nyota stepped gingerly onto it; it creaked, but didn’t sway, much to her relief. Heights were one thing. Falls were another.

The elevator slid slowly down into the darkness, stopping above a second lift. Nyota dropped down onto it, then to a third as she reached the bottom of what looked like a vast cavern. _Just how big are these Hunting Grounds?_ she wondered as she jumped off the last one and onto solid ground. A few torches lit the way ahead of her. One particularly morbid one was set inside a human skull, which made it look like some fire-eyed demon. Nyota appreciated the ingenuity, though it did nothing to calm her nerves. The silence down there was making her twitchy.

“Bio readings show many lifesigns in these tunnels. 97% hostile. I commend your valour,” SAIL reported. Nyota jumped, swore, and turned down the volume.

A red lever opened the door into an even larger cavern. _These caves must be millions of years old,_ Nyota thought as she picked her way through the sharp stalagmites and rough stones. Green bioluminescence from a collection of twisting plants illuminated the room just enough for her to spot the snaunts before they spat. Nyota ducked as acid whizzed overhead. With a threatening growl, she charged and sliced through the first one. Acid splashed around her feet and she skipped back to avoid the second volley. Switching to her pistol, she snapped off a few quick shots to finish them off.

There was light up ahead. The Apex leapt over the last gap between ledges and walked over to it. It came from a small campfire, tended by one of the most colorful Florans she had ever seen. Her skin was a typical minty-green, but her foliage, which trailed almost to her ankles, went from violet to rich jade, accented with a strangely cute cluster of red and yellow berries above one ear. The Floran looked up as Nyota approached.

“Woah! An outssider!” she exclaimed, standing up. “Are you seriously here for the Hunt? Got to respect that ssort of misguided bravery.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Nyota said. She was used to Floran manners (or lack thereof) from dealing with Muthoni for years, so the odd greeting didn’t bother her much. “My name is Nyota. And you are…?”

“Oh me? I’m Nuru—youngest champion in the hisstory of the Hunt,” the Floran said, grinning proudly. “We don’t usually get outssiders down here. I gotta ssay, this is pretty impressive! Or at least it will be if you don’t get ripped to shreds." She gestured mock-grandly at the stone walls around them. "Here, the Floran spend years honing their prowess, like sskilled craftsman grinding a spearhead… Then they mostly die,” she added with a nonchalant shrug. Nyota eyed the spear lying by the fireside. It was quite likely that this colorful Floran had been the cause of death for a few of the others, friendly as she seemed.

“Anyhow, good luck!” Nuru said, opening the gate ahead for Nyota. “Or… if you want, she added, indicating a bone stool in a possibly hopeful manner, “you can sstay a while? I’m having a snack here whilst the others rush ahead. They can fight it out amongst themselves.”

“Thank you,” Nyota replied, taking a seat on the offered stool. “I’m not exactly here for the Hunt, though. I’m an explorer of sorts. I’m looking for something in the Caverns.”

“An explorer! I’ve always wanted to see the universe. Where are you from?” Nuru asked. Her dark eyes were glittering with curiosity.

“I can’t really remember my homeworld,” the Apex said. “I was… I left many years ago, and I’ve spent the years between moving from place to place. What about you, Nuru? I heard the other Floran speaking quite highly of you. I admit,” she added with a laugh, “I did imagine a much older Floran. You can’t be much older than I was when I left home.”

Nuru grinned. “Yeah, I get that a lot. People have a lot of expectations of you when you’re a top hunter… I am seventeen ssummers old. I’ve been hunting since I was a ssprout, and winning since I was a bud.”

“Do you enjoy it, then?”

The Floran thought about the question for a long moment. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “I enjoy hunting, but sssometimes it’s not enough. I participate in The Hunt to show Florans the best way to win is not to fight amongst ourselves. Floran are often mindlessly savage,” she added, looking into Nyota’s eyes, “but they are not evil. Our tribe’s greenfinger taught me to respect life. A lesson many never learn.”

Nyota stared quietly into the fire. “It’s often like that among the Apex,” she said softly. “It’s part of the reason I left.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “But that was quite some time ago. I’ve seen a lot since then.”

“What’s it like out there? Have you met other Floran?” Nuru asked.

Nyota smiled fondly, stirring the fire with a long stick. “One of my dearest friends at the academy was a Floran. His name was Muthoni.”

“Was? Oh.” Nuru seemed to wilt slightly. “Someday I’ll find a way out of here,” she said, her tone brightening a little. “There must be more out there than hunting. Maybe other Floran have figured it out, too.”

The Apex smiled at her. “I wish you luck with that, then, Nuru.” She stood up and stretched, collecting her sword again. “I guess I’ve rested long enough… I should get moving again before I doze off. Thank you for sharing your fire. I think… I missed having friends around.”

-

“Watch out for the other hunters!” Nuru called as Nyota headed through the gate. Nyota nodded and hefted her blade. She could hear distant sounds echoing off the cavern walls ahead.

Esther’s voice crackled through her earpiece. “What a feisty Floran!” she remarked. “Reminds me of myself when I was younger, though I had fewer leaves.”

“Fewer or no leaves?” Nyota asked, smiling. “Sorry, but I hear trouble ahead. I’ll get back to you soon.”

Sure enough, there was trouble. As soon as Nyota clambered up into a new room, she heard Florans shouting and pounding feet. She whirled around to see three armored Florans charging straight at her. Her training took over; time seemed to slow as her sharp eyes examined the area. There, two steps ahead, a switch in the floor. Probably rigged to something… and the floor ahead of it was just a bit off.  Nyota darted forward and pounded on the switch. With an awful grating noise, the floor opened up right as the Florans reached her. They didn’t even realize they were falling until they landed with a resounding splash in the pool of poison below.

_Glad I didn’t fall in that,_ Nyota thought as she leapt over and hurried past. Even if the poison pit didn’t finish them, they wouldn’t be escaping any time soon. A sniper was waiting for her on the next ledge up, but he reacted just a bit too slow.

The path seemed to just lead to a dead end. Nyota frowned, examining the small cave she’d ended up in. She’d dealt with the trio of snaunts already; all that was left in the room was an almost overly-conspicuous treasure chest, sitting out in plain sight. _If that’s not a trap, I’m a Hylotl,_ she thought.

Standing as far back as she could, Nyota gently levered up the treasure chest’s lid with the tip of her blade. Something clicked. She dove aside as a torrent of toxic liquid poured out of the ceiling, suddenly illuminated by torches. But her little trick worked: a door in the upper reach of the room had opened! It wasn’t a way forward, but it did lead to a chest with a few medical supplies and an old book. Nyota smiled as she pulled out her prize. Books were a precious rarity to Apex, and this one had been well-earned. She’d definitely cherish it.

Retracing her steps brought Nyota back to where she’d met Nuru; there was no sign of the colorful Floran now. Nyota took the lower route this time, and walked right into an ambush.

**

Her shoulder ached, and blood matted her fur as she caught her breath by a small fire. In the end, Nyota had won that scuffle, but she wouldn’t be forgetting her bruises any time soon. The little pots of salve she’d made on Mimosa Strand could only do so much. “At least they dull the pain,” she muttered, cleaning the blood away as best she could.

“Are you alright, Nyota?” Esther asked. The worry was clear in her voice. “SAIL’s readings say you are injured.”

“I’ll be alright, Esther. I just got a little careless,” Nyota replied. “The Floran know these tunnels far better than I do. I should have paid more attention.”

“Whatever these Floran are pursuing is obviously of grave importance to them,” the old woman remarked. “They’re worse than me on a bug hunt! Be careful, dear.”

Nyota laughed softly at the metaphor and stood up again. Time to keep moving.

-

Green fibers clung to the walls all around her as Nyota headed deeper into the caverns; it reminded her of the odd webbing she’d found in the Floran village, but on a much grander scale. _Esther said this stuff came from some manner of insect_ , she remembered, poking it with her sword. It wasn’t even scratched. _Whatever made this much must be huge._

The webbing moved. Nyota scrambled back as a pink _thing_ tumbled out of it. It was about the size of a large dog, but almost roly-poly round. Its legs and body were protected by some sort of white, bone-like shell. It chirped up at her, then jumped at her face. With a startled yell, Nyota swung her sword and caught it mid-leap. It dissolved as the blade cleaved right through it. Breathing hard, she slowly lowered her weapon. “SAIL,” she said, “what in all the worlds is that?”

“The creature did not survive long enough for a thorough scan,” SAIL reported, “but there seem to be others nearby. Evidence indicates these entities are not yet fully mature; there is a high likelihood they are only freshly hatched. You appear to have stumbled into a nest.”

Nyota groaned. Of course, with her luck, their mother was still nearby. It was just like the poptops down in the old mine. But she’d needed core fragments then, and she needed the Relic now. This was the only way forward.

Five minutes and half a dozen more jumping squishy beasts later, the ground shook under her feet. It wasn’t an earthquake, not like any she’d felt before. It had definitely come from just up ahead. _Did something heavy fall down over there?_ she wondered. She could just make out a sign etched into the wall. Nyota headed over to get a closer look. “This is an odd one,” she remarked, studying the carving. “Could be a three-toed footprint, or a falling boulder.”

As it turned out, her second guess was right. Leaping, dodging, and outright sprinting frantically, Nyota struggled to keep her balance as boulders crashed down and rolled all around her. “I understand that the Hunt is a test,” she panted, ducking as one whizzed over her head, “but this is outright ridiculous!”

Luckily for the rattled Apex, the boulder corridor didn’t last too long. After two minutes of running for her life, she leaned against the wall, panting for breath, just out of their reach. _I really hope I don’t have to do that again._

“Hey! Over here!” a voice called. Nyota jumped, then looked up and saw a familiar colorful Floran waving down at her.

“Nuru! It’s good to see you again,” the Apex said, climbing up. There really wasn’t anywhere else she could go; the way forward was blocked by thick iron bars.

Nuru grinned at her. “I can’t believe you made it this far,” she said cheerfully. “Nice work. Buuut now you’re stuck,” she added, indicating the bars below them. “The phrase ‘slow clap’ springs to mind. Here: I can open that.” She kicked a lever near her feet and the bars grated open.

“Thanks,” Nyota said. “You’ve been here a while, right? How much farther do the tunnels go?”

“The tunnels go for _ages_ ,” Nuru told her, “but the prey won’t fit in all of them. I think we’re close now—I hope you’ve worked up an appetite!”

As Nuru headed upward, Nyota walked through the gate and looked around. She could hear the telltale rumble of boulders ahead; no way was she dealing with _that_ again. There was water below her, though. It looked very deep; perhaps that would prove a better way forward? “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Nyota muttered, quoting one of Isobu’s favorite human idioms before jumping down into the lake.

Her breathing EPP kicked in a second after she went under. Nyota pulled out her Matter Manipulater, turned on its light, and took a look around. Sharp spiny rocks lined the walls of the lake; she’d have to be very careful. There were words etched into the wall beside her head; “ _Turn Back,”_ it said. Defiance flared up. Now she _had_ to see where this went.

It was a long, dark, claustrophobic swim, made much easier once she realized how fragile the spikes were. A few shots from her pistol easily cleared the way. Soon, golden firelight filtered through the gloom and Nyota swam upward, gasping gratefully for fresh air. Even if the breathing EPP let her live in airless environments, it still felt so very odd. She climbed up the rough cave wall and sat on a wooden platform, shaking water out of her fur.

Unease crept down her spine. Nyota turned, looked up, and felt the blood drain from her face. A twisted carving marred the wall above her, four curving tentacles surrounding one great eye. Earth surfaced in her memory again. “This was the last thing I’d wanted to see here,” she whispered, forcing down memory and nausea. She didn’t stick around. She didn’t dare touch the carving.


	12. Ixodoom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5 kudos already! Thank you! (I was pleasantly surprised by even getting one...)  
> Many thanks to all of you who have read this in the six days since I put it up. Chapter updates might be a bit sporadic but I'll try to get at least one a day out until I catch up to the blog.

The cavern above the awful carving ended in a solid dirt ceiling, but Nyota recognized the false floor this time, just like with the poison pool earlier. It helped that there was a lever in plain sight. She hit the switch, climbed up through the floor, and dropped flat as someone tried to shoot her again. Three Florans charging at her, two snipers above them. Experience and raw instinct took over. She didn’t need to think, not for this. One, she disarmed, and the second lost his head before he even knew what hit him. The third was smart enough to block with her shield, but not to keep upright when Nyota dropped into a crouch and kicked her legs out from under her. The Apex switched to her dagger to finish the hunter off, then fired two pistol shots into the first Floran just as he reclaimed his sword. Three down.

A bullet tore a line down Nyota’s cheek. She hissed in sudden pain; of course the snipers joined in now. She grabbed the third Floran’s shield and used it to block the next volley, then threw the now-broken disc aside and ran for the far wall. Another shot clipped her shoulder as she shifted into the Distortion Sphere, using the climbing spines to scale the wall and slip into the sniper’s nest. “Sorry,” she muttered, shifting back. Her blade came down.

Bullets ricocheted off the outside of the tiny room, but none of them managed to get inside this time. The other sniper clearly wasn’t used to dealing with cover. Nyota crouched down to see through the gap in the bricks and fired into the other sniper nest. The volley stopped.

Satisfied, Nyota sat down and pulled out the bandages she’d found earlier, along with a red-filled syringe. After a bit of thought, she stashed the stimpack for later. Those were hard to come by, and a regenerative one was bound to come in handy. A bit of salve and a bandage patched her shoulder and face up well enough. She couldn’t be too far from the end now.

Five minutes later, Nyota stopped. An ominous black gate blocked her way. She’d seen one just like this before, just before reaching the Erchius Horror’s chamber. _I guess this is it,_ she thought, and opened the door.

Nuru was waiting for her. “You made it!” the Floran called, waving her over. “Look,” she said, pointing up, “This iss much bigger than last year’s prey. Finally! A proper challenge!”

A massive sack hung from the ceiling. Its structure looked all too similar to the bony plating from the squishy pink monsters from earlier. “Is it some sort of egg case?” Nyota asked, instinct prickling at the back of her neck. She didn't like that thing, whatever it was.

Nuru laughed and pulled out her spear. “No, ssilly. Just watch. Or better, join in. This is going to be fun.”

 

The sack shook. Twice. Then all hell broke loose.

Nyota flinched as an awful screech tore at her eardrums, bits of hard shell raining down around her. She recognized this thing. An Ixodoom.

Nuru had her spear up and was flinging some sort of electrical blast into the Ixodoom’s shell. Nyota followed her cue and drew her pistol, firing shot after shot into the squishy pink flesh between the bone plating. Miniknog textbooks that claimed no Apex had ever fought a fully-grown Ixodoom and survived. Time to see if she could prove them wrong.

The pistol seemed to only be making it mad. With another horrifying scream, the Ixodoom spat a wave of caustic juice down at Nyota and Nuru. Nyota ducked under a chunk of green webbing and put her pistol away, pulling her own spear out instead. It couldn’t fire lightning like Nuru’s could, and it wasn’t quite as sharp as the sword, but it would give her just enough reach. Leaping as high as she could, Nyota activated Pulse Jump at the very peak of her jump and used the extra height and momentum to ram her spear deep into the Ixodoom’s flesh. Electricity smashed into the shell next to her. The Ixodoom screamed as its bone plating suddenly cracked away, leaving it stunned and quivering.

“Hit it!” Nuru yelled. “Hit it while it’s fleshy!”

Nyota hit the ground and rolled, swapping back to her gun. She emptied a dozen bursts into the Ixodoom’s hide, reloaded, and started firing again. The Ixodoom shook itself and started secreting a weird white gunk; in moments, it had a new bony shell and scuttled up to the ceiling.

“Do you fight these things every year?” Nyota asked as she picked up her spear again. The Ixodoom spat out a larva; it didn’t last long.

“Yes,” Nuru replied, firing more electricity into the Ixodoom’s new plating. “Though last year’s was sssmaller. This year’s prey is huge!” She laughed as they smashed the Ixodoom’s armor a second time and helped Nyota slash away at the giant bug’s flesh. It was definitely hurting now, and angry. The shell reformed much faster this time, and the Ixodoom spat a huge stream of acid all over everything. Nyota grabbed Nuru’s arm and pulled the Floran behind a sheet of webbing.

“It’s looking pretty rough now,” Nyota said, fending off more larva.

“We’ve nearly defeated it,” Nuru called back. She charged back out as soon as the acid stopped bubbling and started hurling electricity into the Ixodoom’s shell again. It shrieked and thrashed as one last shot bashed its shell to pieces. “There! Finish it off!”

Nyota lunged for its head and plunged her blade as deep as it would go. With one final scream that made her ears ring, the Ixodoom dropped off the wall, taking the Apex and a good chunk of the floor with it.

Nyota lay there for several moments as the dust settled. She really didn’t want to move. Everything hurt. But she still had to claim that relic… She sat up as Nuru jumped down beside her. The Floran grinned and offered her a hand getting up.

“Now that was ssatisfying,” Nuru said. “Come on.”

The little cave they’d ended up in turned into a long, steep staircase. Nyota picked her way through the last bits of Ixodoom and followed after her companion. Lights flickered on as they passed.

“You know,” the Floran said as they neared the top, “that really was impresssive.”

“Was it? Thank you,” Nyota replied. The Floran seemed to be thinking about something.

A huge crowd of Florans of every color were waiting at the end of the stairs. They erupted into cheers as Nuru and Nyota reached the top.

“Two championsss this year!”

“What? Nuru winsss again?”

“The ssstranger won!”

“The Hunt iss over!”

A red-skinned Greenfinger with bright green foliage greeted them at the top of a wide plinth. “Ssssacred hunt is over,” she hissed, bowing to the pair. “Sssacred bone is yours, Championsss.” She stepped aside to reveal a strange bone pedestal. A small crescent-shaped bone floated above it, shining with eerie green light.

Nyota looked back uncertainly at Nuru. “Am I allowed to take it?”

“You won the Hunt, sssilly!” Nuru said. “Well, we both won, but I don’t want it. It’s not even chewy.” She grinned again. “That was the most fun I’ve had in ages. It felt good to have ssomeone around who can hold their own. In fact… Congratulations! I’ve just decided your trophy comess with one free Nuru! Pick up the Bone and let’ss go!”

Floran had an odd definition of fun, but Nyota had to admit that she enjoyed the excitement underneath the bruises and mortal peril. She hadn’t felt challenged like this in years, not since signing on with the Protectorate. The Apex held out her hand and the curved bone dropped into it. It looked so small against her large palm, but it felt… strange. She didn’t have the words for it, and doubted she ever would. But there was no doubt that this was the Relic she needed. One down, five to go.


	13. Mishap and Megrez

“Welcome back,” Esther exclaimed as the two champions climbed the Ark steps. “I see you have the Relic… and this must be the clever Nuru. It’s a pleasure to meet you, my dear.”

Nuru grinned. “It’sss nice to meet you too, Esther. Nyota told me about you.” She looked around, her eyes widening as she took in the sights. “I like this place,” she declared. “It’s sspooky!”

As Nuru headed down the steps to explore some more, Esther turned back to Nyota. “You did wonderfully,” she told the Apex. “Hold up the Relic.”

Nyota did as she was told. The green-studded bone glittered in the light of the old holograms, then floated slowly out of her hands. It vanished in a burst of light; a moment later, the middle slot on the gate shone green. There was a tiny click.

Esther nodded in satisfaction. “We’re one sixth of the way there, dear. Nothing to sniff at. And now we have Nuru to help us, too.”

“So, what’s my next goal?” Nyota asked. The battles in the Hunting Grounds had left her tired and battered, but she didn't want to rest, not now.

Esther thought about it for a few moments, studying the gate. “We should start work on finding the Hylotl artifact now,” she said finally. “Search around temperate stars, and hunt for clues on planets with vast tracts of ocean, where Hylotl reside both above and below the waves. Come back when your search is complete; and look after yourself.”

**

Back on board her ship, Nyota headed for the captain’s chair again and pulled up the star-system scans. First things first, her ship wasn’t going anywhere outside Mimosa Strand if it didn’t have fuel. Erchius was usually found on airless moons. And as luck would have it, Mimosa Strand had quite a few moons. Nyota selected the nearest one and watched the stars blur past.

She was once again grateful for her breathing EPP as she beamed down to the surface of the moon. There was a kind of loneliness to it, but not like a dead world. It was a world that had never known life at all. Nyota shivered and started looking for the telltale violet gleam of erchius.

It didn’t take long to find the first few shards. Nyota pulled out her Matter Manipulator and picked a few of them loose from the dusty ground. As soon as her hand closed around them, her earpiece chimed. “I am detecting entities attracted by the moon’s erchius deposits,” SAIL informed her.

“What sort of entities?” Nyota asked.

“…Unclear. But their interest in you will grow as you collect more fuel. I would define these entities as ‘intractably deadly’. I salute your fearlessness.”

_Well, that’s comforting._ Nyota moved a bit faster now, taking advantage of the moon’s low gravity to skip easily over high ridges and collect more ore. Most of the time, she enjoyed the weightlessness. Right now, though, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Suddenly, she stumbled. She could feel the strength leave her legs. Panic flooded through her. She’d been on low-gravity worlds before; it couldn’t be poor acclimatization. Erchius poisoning? No… she wasn’t even carrying one tenth of the minimum for that… Right before fear overwhelmed her thoughts, she saw it.

Some kind of clawed, violet worm oozed out of the darkness, dark eyes fixed on her. It slid through the rocks, like some sort of awful wraith, its sickly purple radiance sending eerie shadows dancing across the ground. Something about its smooth, sinewy body reminded her horribly of the Erchius crystal monster in the mines…

Nyota’s breath fogged out in front of her; it shone violet. The creature reached toward her, and the cloud of breath spiraled into its spindly fingers. Nyota actually felt the air pulled from her lungs. Drawing her pistol, she fired off several shots at the wormlike specter, but they phased right through it, like it wasn’t even there. But it had to be there. She could feel it sucking the strength and life right out of her. It reached for her again. She turned and ran.

“SAIL!” she shrieked, “SAIL, get me out of here!”

Just as its claws brushed against her hair, she vanished into a beam of light.

**

Nyota curled up on the teleporter base, breathing deep and slow as she tried to calm down. She didn’t know what that… _thing_ was, or why her bullets couldn’t hurt it at all. She just knew she wasn’t going back to that moon. The images flared up again and she tried to curl up tighter, squeezing her eyes shut. It felt like they were burned into her brain. Its massive form, its vacant stare, its silently grasping claws…

A small nose pressed itself against her cheek. Nyota stiffened, then let her breath out in a long sigh. “Thanks, Weasel,” she whispered, sitting up and cradling the tiny creature close. It snuffled and rubbed its face against her chin. The Apex stood up and walked over to the ship’s fuel deposit, shifting the weasel to her shoulder so she could use both hands as she emptied her entire collection of fuel into the tank. 400 units, enough for at least one jump. “At least it was worth something,” she murmured as she headed for the captain’s chair.

She was, to some extent, disgusted with herself. The academy had made her go soft. Every Apex learned early on how to stifle their emotions; it was the only way to survive. Her training had only reinforced that. Years at the academy, with Isobu and Akemi always encouraging her to be more open and doing their best to make her feel safe, that had ruined it. Her old mentor would cringe in shame if he saw her now… But then she remembered the Ruin, and the monster from the moon, and shook her head. There was no point beating herself up over losing control then. No amount of training could have prepared her for that.

-

Finding the Hylotl Relic was important, but Nyota knew she wouldn’t last very long in her current gear. Tungsten had served well enough against the Florans in the Ceremonial Hunting Grounds, but she’d heard stories about all sorts of creatures of truly terrifying power that could be found across the galaxy. The best of the best ores were found near frozen and fiery stars… Nyota looked at her unaugmented breathing EPP and laughed quietly. _No, not today. Not anytime soon._ She would have to make do with a lesser grade until she could improve on it.

Selecting the nearest star system, the Megrez Mass, Nyota inspected the geological readouts of each planet. Two of them held nothing better than iron, but the third one, a little arctic world, was recorded as having trace amounts of titanium in its crust. Nyota set the coordinates and started the FTL Drive. In just moments, she was floating above the snow-covered planet. She collected her weapons and headed for the teleporter.

“Initial scans report no major lifesigns, hostile or otherwise, near the teleportation site,” SAIL reported as Nyota fired up the machine.

“Good to know,” the Apex replied. “You stay here,” she added to the weasel, which had followed her. “I’ll have my hands full just looking after my own hide.”

-

The snow tickled wonderfully as it melted into her fur. Nyota grinned as her breath fogged out in front of her, so much more naturally here than it had been on the barren moon. Her homeworld had been a cold one, just like this. How long had it been since she’d last seen snow? It was terribly tempting to just play in the snow for the rest of the day… but a quick glance at the sky told her the rest of the day wasn’t going to be very long. She set off over the rolling snow drifts; fun could wait until after she had her ore.

As the sun began to set, Nyota started looking for shelter. She’d picked her way through a frozen swamp just half an hour ago, but she had no desire to spend the night with the swamp’s silent, slightly creepy Frogg inhabitants. It did not help that her fur was damp; she was starting to shiver as the sun went down and took the warmth with it. She’d managed to scrounge up a bit of ore, but it would do her no good if she froze out there.

Just as she was about to give up and ask SAIL to beam her up for another uncomfortable night on the ship, she spotted a tall building. It was an old stone house, still in remarkably good condition, though a quick glance around the place told her it had been abandoned for some time. There was even a bed! Nyota could barely remember the last time she’d actually slept in a bed. “What luck this is,” she said, inspecting what had once been the kitchen. She pulled out her Matter Manipulater to log the place’s coordinates, then locked both doors and headed upstairs to sleep.

She awoke just past midnight. There was someone else in the house.


	14. Lumen

Nyota lay very still, listening. She could hear someone humming. It sounded tinny, almost; a Glitch? It couldn’t be the house’s former owner… The place had been abandoned for years. Whoever it was, they didn’t seem to have noticed her yet. Nyota got up as silently as she could, drew her pistol, and crept over to the stairs. This wasn’t the first time she’d run into a situation like this. She knew from old experience that the odds of it being someone friendly, out here in the middle of nowhere, were slim to none. “Whoever you are,” she said calmly, leveling her gun, “I suggest you come out and put your hands where I can see them.”

There was a startled shout, a loud clatter, and a sudden flicker of light. Nyota tightened her finger on the trigger.

“Wait, wait! Don’t shoot! I surrender! I don’t know what I’ve done but I surrender!” A brightly glowing person tumbled into view, then scrambled for cover behind the table.

 _A Novakid?_ Startled, Nyota lowered her gun.

“I swear I didn’t know there was someone here,” the Novakid gabbled. “I wouldn’ta come in if I’d known! I’ll just go away quiet-like, whoever ya are. I ain’t lookin’ for trouble.”

Nyota stood up and put her pistol away. “I’m not going to shoot you,” she said. “Though I admit I considered it… I thought you were a bandit.”

The Novakid looked up as she headed down the stairs. “Eh? Oh, that’s great. The not-shootin’ part, not ya thinkin’ me a bandit.” He laughed, his heart-shaped brand humming softly. “I’m no fighter, I admit. If ya wanted to take me out, I’d be done for. But ya seem the capable sort, Miss…?”

“Just Nyota, thanks,” she said. “And you?”

He grabbed her offered hand and shook it enthusiastically. “Pleasure to meet ya, Nyota! Whoo-ee, that’s a bit of a tangler to say. M’ name’s Lumen. Ya look like the sort that’s got a story to ‘em. I was just gettin’ a little campfire goin’ outside. Care to join me, trade a yarn?”

Lumen listened in mostly-silence as Nyota related the gist of her adventures, from the moment the Earth was destroyed until she gave the Floran Relic to Esther, interrupting only with a low whistle when she told him about the statue of the Cultivator at the Ark.

“Now there’s somethin’ I’d love to see,” he said. “So ya plan to head all over this here galaxy, roundin’ up these Relic things? Whooo, but that’s a big task for one little Apex. Well, not little… Yer taller’n me,” he noted with a laugh. “But just this star system’s a big place. I can barely imagine searchin’ the whole galaxy.”

“I’ve managed so far,” Nyota said with a shrug. “And I do have a little help. But what about you, Lumen? What’s your story?”

The Novakid shrugged, pulled out a coppery flask of some sort, and took a long drink. His plasma glowed brighter; Nyota could see some sort of shining white fluid swirling around inside him. “Oh no, you don’t want any of this stuff,” he remarked, noticing Nyota eyeing the flask. “Nova moonshine’s no good for you fleshy sorts. None too good for some Novas, sometimes, but I know my limits.

“I’m afraid my story’s none too interestin’ beside yours,” he began, leaning back and looking up at the stars. “See, I’m just a barkeep, or at least I was. Had a fine ol’ saloon on the red planet an’ did good trade, servin’ other Novakid there and the odd human who dropped by. Most interestin’ thing that ever usually happened to me was a good ol’ brawl every now ‘n then, or the odd story about them crazy vigilantes a few sectors over. I loved hearin’ about that Luko fellow.” He hummed again and took another swig from the flask. It was almost hypnotic, watching him gesture as he spoke, with his hands leaving faint orange trails in the dark. “Anyhow, when that big ol’ tentacle beastie, whatcha call it, the Ruin… when that thing showed up and smashed the Earth to bits, my folk hightailed it outta there. Can’t run a saloon with no patrons… And frankly, I was scared pale of that thing, so I scrammed too.”

“So how did you end up here?” Nyota asked. “We’re a long way from the Sol System.”

“Well, same as anyone, I s’pose,” he replied with another shrug. “Hopped on a ship and ended up out here. We got boarded by some little feathered devils a few days back and I ended up out the airlock. Now, no call for that,” he said hurriedly, seeing her look of alarm, “I’m no ghost. Novakid can survive just fine out there if we don’t get hurt. Sure, it feels funny, and I’m right lucky a solar flare didn’t head my way, but I’ve had worse. I just kinda drifted around for a little while, then hitched a ride on a passing comet and ended up down here. Dunno what happened to the rest of the crew.”

Nyota stared at him, then laughed. She’d forgotten how crazy Novakid could be. “That’s quite the tale, Lumen.”

He traced an X in the air over his chest with his free hand in a sort of ‘cross my heart’ gesture, even though Novakid didn't have hearts. “And every word of it’s true, sure as I’m sittin’ here.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I believe you,” Nyota reassured him. “I’ve met Novakid before. Your people are refreshingly honest.”

Lumen chuckled. “Darn right. We ain’t got the patience to lie. Well now, Nyota, I’d love to chat a while longer, but dawn’s a’comin’, so we oughta catch a dimmer while we can. I dunno what brought you to this chilly little chunk of rock, but I’ll be stickin’ around here for a while. Yer welcome to come visit me any time.”

**

Nyota woke up about half an hour after sunrise, feeling a lot more refreshed than she would have expected after talking to Lumen for a few hours instead of resting. She could see a very faint glow from the loft; he was probably still asleep. Careful to make as little noise as possible, Nyota got up and headed outside. It was a fine, crisp morning, the sun just starting to burn off the evening frost. The Apex stretched, enjoying the warm rays, then set off. She had work to do.

An hour later, she finally had the last few chunks of ore she needed to forge new armor. It was surprisingly comfortable, sturdier than her old tungsten set but lighter than the iron had been. “Right then,” Nyota said, adjusting the greaves and heading for the captain’s chair on her ship, “SAIL, I need to find an ocean world.”

“The planet in the orbital immediately adjacent to our current location reads as almost purely water on its surface,” SAIL reported. “Setting course…”

While SAIL dealt with the finer details of getting them to their destination, Nyota headed over to her (admittedly rudimentary) tech station. The underwater passage in the Ceremonial Hunting Grounds had given her an idea, one that was sure to be useful on a watery world. “Just a few tweaks to the buoyancy setting, more hydrodynamic shape… Basic propulsion would be nice,” she muttered as she fiddled with the Distortion Sphere tech chip, “but also far too complicated. It’ll have to do as-is.”

-

The surface of the oceanic world was sweltering and humid. Nyota immediately regretted having fur as she sought shade under a palm tree. As far as she could tell, the only visible land was the little sandy island she was standing on, but there had to be something else out there. And standing on the sand wasn’t going to get her any cooler. Nyota waded into the surf, activated her modified Distortion Sphere, and rolled across the waves.

The first island she found wasn’t inhabited, but the second one was. An armored Hylotl nodded politely to her as she climbed ashore, then went back to tracing delicate lines in the sand. “Salutations and welcome,” he said with a polite bow. “What brings you here?”

“Hello,” Nyota said, returning his bow. “I’m an explorer of sorts. I was hoping to learn more about the Hylotl. Could you help me?”

“Ah, I fear there is little aid I can offer for such an enlightened quest,” the Hylotl replied. “I am only a guard, here to defend, not to teach. Protecting the wisdom of our ancestors sustains our culture, but it does not help me to pass it on.”

“I see,” Nyota said, sighing. “Do you know where else I could look, perhaps?”

“Try diving deeper,” the guard said. “There is a city down on the ocean floor, and an old ruin that was once inhabited by my people. You may have better luck down there.”

After thanking the guard, Nyota headed back to the sea. This time, she didn’t activate her Distortion Sphere, instead letting gravity pull her deeper. Bubbles drifted by, followed by guppies and the occasional bioluminescent jellyfish. It was so quiet down there, and so dark. Nyota could barely see her hand in front of her face. She was glad she had spent so much time in her childhood overcoming her kind's instinctual wariness of deep water. “Esther,” she asked, turning on her mic again, “do you think I’ll find anything useful down here?”

“If the guard says there’s a city, there probably is one,” Esther told her. “Chin up, dear! Even the smallest piece of evidence can help to uncover the grandest secrets of the universe. You found the first relic without any trouble. You’ll do fine.”

Hours passed, interrupted only by the changing currents and occasional large, carnivorous fish. Nyota was just about to give up for the day when she spotted lights through the gloom. Clearing a ridge, she stared in wonder at the vast towers that loomed up from the ocean floor. Lights flickered from tiny portholes on every side of them, winking like distant stars. Nyota swam for the entrance hatch. Perhaps she’d find her answers here.


	15. Nostalgia

Nyota shook the water out of her fur as the hatch sealed shut behind her and the drains finished clearing out the seawater that followed her inside. It felt almost claustrophobic in the tunnel; she hurried through the opposite hatch as soon as it opened and almost bumped right into a Hylotl guard.

“Oh, excuse me,” the Hylotl said.

“I’m sorry, I was not watching where I was going,” Nyota apologized, backing up quickly. “I was not expecting the door to open so fast.”

The Hylotl smiled. “Oh, you’re a newcomer, then? Of course you are, how silly of me. We don’t get many Apex under the waves. Welcome to our city!”

Nyota looked around. It was certainly a lot more open out here, with high ceilings that even the floodlights couldn’t quite illuminate and tall staircases leading upward to higher floors. Everything seemed bright and new. She couldn’t even read the words on the sign to figure out where she was going. “Where will I even begin?” she wondered aloud.

The Hylotl blinked, or at least his lower two eyes did. The third eye stayed disconcertingly fixed on Nyota’s face. “I beg your pardon, but were you looking for someone? Or perhaps something?”

“Do ‘answers’ count as something?” Nyota asked with a small smile. “I’m trying to find out more about Hylotl culture and history.”

The guard tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Hm, I don’t know how much luck you’ll have here. Most kids these days, all they care about are their loud music and the neon lights of the arcade and disco... Personally, I enjoy collecting books. It’s a big part of Hylotl culture. If you really need help, you might try the meditation gardens or the library. The caretakers there can tell you more.”

After thanking the guard, Nyota headed upstairs. It was a dark, cramped climb, and she gave a sigh of relief when she finally reached the library landing. Tight spaces brought back bad memories, dark halls and echoing footsteps... The library was a magnificent sight, though, and she immediately forgot the nervousness of the stairwell as she stared in wonder at the rows upon rows of books. She had never seen so many in one place before; even the academy library hadn’t been so impressive, since humans converted most of their literature to digital format long ago. She inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of paper and ink. Most of the books were probably the usual long-winded treatises on the cultural superiority of the Hylotl race, but libraries always made her happy beyond words.

There was another guard in here, probably on break if the book in her hands was any indication. She looked up as Nyota climbed the ladder to the reading area. “Ah, a visitor! Welcome. Have you come to see the treasures of our people?” she asked. “Most think of sunken treasure and ancient armor when they think of Hylotl treasures, but there is a lot of value in the written word. I fear that our knowledge has been neglected after our wars with the Floran, but you are most welcome here!”

Flipping through a few of the books gave Nyota a headache as she tried to read the curling Hylotl script, so vastly different from the Apex alphabet’s utilitarian lines. She was considered proficient in Hylotl, yes, but that was mostly spoken, and many of these books seemed hand-written with more focus on style than the reader’s ability to actually read it. The symbols danced in her vision, seeming to rearrange themselves and making her eyes hurt. After an hour, she put the fourth book away with a sigh and went to find the meditation gardens. Hopefully someone there would be able to give her clearer information.

-

Nyota found herself reluctant to disturb the garden’s other occupants when she arrived. Even though they were on the bottom of the seafloor, the air was sweet, like a spring breeze, colorful blossoms swaying in the artificial wind. She could hear a strange tune playing faintly over the sound of trickling streams. One of the Hylotl nodded politely to her, then went back to trimming the flowers. Nyota could feel all the stress of the past few weeks just melting away as she listened to the song and the water.

After a few minutes of just enjoying the peaceful garden, the Apex got up to search for the source of the song. She spotted it quickly: an old handmade music box, clearly well-loved and cared for. As the song began again, Nyota turned on her microphone recorder.

Esther spoke up as the song ended. “That’s an interesting find you have there,” she remarked. “This music box plays an ancient tune… It’s a commemorative object. I will research what its origins are. That might give us a nudge in the right direction.”

“From a music box? Strange clues from strange places,” Nyota said, heading back down the ladder. The guard from the island had mentioned an undersea ruin, but she had no desire to spend much more time underwater. Being in the garden had made her miss the sun and wind on her fur. _I ought to see how Lumen’s doing._

_**_

It was just shy of midmorning when Nyota teleported back to the surface outside the old stone house. She could hear someone humming inside. “Hello, Lumen!” she called.

“Hey there, is that a Nyota I hear?” There was a crackling sound, Novakid laughter. “Come on in and chat a spell. How’ve ya been?”

“A bit deeper and wetter than usual,” Nyota told him, ducking through the doorway. Lumen had converted the old wooden door to a swinging one, like the sort Nyota had seen once in an old human Western movie. He also had a few flasks and bottles, no two alike, set up on the table. Nyota was surprised to see what looked like a rudimentary chemistry set next to them.

“Sounds like an adventure,” the Novakid remarked. His plasma flickered warmly, the equivalent of a friendly grin if Nyota remembered his kind’s “expressions” right. “Go on, tell me about it.”

“There’s not much to tell this time,” Nyota said, claiming a vacant seat. “I found a Hylotl above the waves and a city below them, but I’ve only got a bit of gossip and a music box as clues for my search. How about you, though? Life been treating you well here?”

Lumen laughed again. “Ya got a mighty strange idea of things if ya think a city under the sea is ‘not much to tell,’ ma'am.  Though I guess it seems like nothin’ to ya adventurin’ sorts. Me, I’ve been tidyin’ up a bit here and there. Found a nice ol’ measurin’ kit in a crate upstairs. Made ya somethin’, too. Here.” He passed her a small vial. A faintly cream-colored liquid sloshed gently inside of it.

“Thanks… but what is it?” Nyota asked, taking the vial warily and watching its contents swirl around.

The Novakid hummed and rubbed the back of his head, a couple of sparks flickering in his cytoplasm. “Ah, well… It’s a mighty fine place you’ve helped me secure. I gotta thank you for it. So I, um, heard Apex are fond of bananas… It ain’t the real deal, but this stuff should taste like ‘em?”

Nyota was by no means an expert in all Novakid expressions, but she could have sworn Lumen was embarrassed.

“The banana thing is a bit of a stereotype, courtesy of the Miniknog,” she told him with a small laugh, “but they _are_ delicious… Thank you very much, Lumen.” She uncorked the vial and took a sip. Her eyes widened.

Lumen leaned forward, fizzing anxiously. “What? How is it?”

It tasted _just_ like bananas. Even the smell and texture were right, the wonderful creaminess of a banana smoothie. “It’s perfect,” Nyota sighed. To her shock, she felt nostalgic tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. The last time she’d tasted this was back on Earth, the morning before graduation. It had been her birthday. Nyota had never really celebrated her birthday, but somehow Isobu and Marcy had found hers out...

Embarrassed, Nyota ducked her head and flicked the tears away, hiding the motion by recorking the vial and stashing it in her vest pocket. “I think I’ll save the rest for later,” she said, absurdly grateful that her voice didn’t betray her. “Stay safe, Lumen. I have to get some sleep before I head out wandering again, but I will visit again as soon as I’m able.”

“You too, Nyota,” the Novakid replied, watching her go. “Come back whenever you like. My door is always open for a friend.”

 _Friend?_ A small smile tugged at her lips. It felt good to hear that again.


	16. Distress Signals

It was nighttime on the oceanic world when Nyota arrived on its surface again, but she didn’t stay to watch the stars this time. Experience from Mimosa Strand had taught her all too well that the nastier monsters came out at night, and her eyes were not very well suited to the dark. Something growled, far too close. Nyota didn’t stick around to find out what it was.

This time she swam east, past the underwater city. She had learned all she could from there, but the guard from the island had mentioned a ruin nearby. Something may have been left behind that could point her in the right direction.

After an hour of swimming and an uncomfortably close call with a massive fish, Nyota spotted a dark shape looming out of the waters ahead, a shape far more regular than the rock formations she’d seen until now. It was vastly different from the towering city of metal and lights she’d found before, but the architecture was unmistakably Hylotl. She remembered sketches in her old textbooks of surface ruins that looked just like the buildings looming before her now, relics of the days before the Floran invasion. _What could I find here?_ she wondered as she swam through the entrance tunnels. _Hopefully not more giant fish…_

She did in fact find more carnivorous fish, but her old spear made short work of them. The city was surprisingly bright inside, despite being well below the sunlight zone. Fiery-gold coral glowed across the seafloor and a few old lights still gleamed here and there through the rubble. The passages twisted and wove, mazelike, through halls lined with wood and some manner of waterproof paper screens. It was a miracle they had survived this long, as far as Nyota was concerned. Modern Hylotl were much more attentive to the longevity of their homes than their ancestors.

At the end of one long tunnel, she surfaced in an air pocket to rest and get her bearings. Something on the wall caught her eye. Nyota leaned in for a closer look. “Some sort of Hylotl library?” she wondered aloud, studying the old painting. “Esther, what do you make of this?”

“This image is hand made and obviously depicts a building of cultural importance…” the old woman mused as Nyota’s scan reached her. “I wonder… You may have found our big break at last! Keep looking around! There must be more here.”

Sure enough, two fish and half an hour later, Nyota stumbled upon a second artifact. It looked like some manner of aquarium, its inhabitants long-since escaped or eaten, with a miniature pagoda on top. The building profile was identical to the one in the poster she’d found earlier.

“This can’t be a coincidence. Could you run an image-search with the scans?” the Apex asked as she studied the aquarium.

“Of course I can.” Her voice was muffled by a quiet electronic hum for a second or two as Nyota’s earpiece picked up on some kind of interference. “Let’s see…” Esther muttered, oblivious to the noise. “Ah! Interesting – I’d never heard of the Grand Pagoda Library. I don’t need any more information now – come back to the Ark when you’re ready, dear.”

“I’d be back as soon as I can,” Nyota promised. “Um, Esther, is that your computer humming? It’s getting hard to hear you.”

“My computer?” Esther sounded confused. “No, dear, my computer shouldn’t make enough noise for your earpiece to pick it up. Is it something on your end?”

“No, it’s dead quiet down here… SAIL. What’s going on?”

“I am picking up some sort of communications signal,” SAIL reported. “The sender’s system is, at best, rudimentary… but it seems to be coming from a nearby planet in this system.”

“Do what you can to locate and identify it,” Nyota ordered. “I’m coming up.”

As soon as she was near enough for her ship scanner to pick her up, Nyota activated the teleporter. She got off the receiver pad as soon as she arrived; they were usually pretty resilient, but water and technology never mixed well and she was not going to allow dripping fur to strand her on her ship. “Alright, SAIL,” she said, walking over to the monitor, “what have you got?”

“Your timing is excellent,” the AI remarked. “I have just identified the signal. It seems to be coming from that old stone house on the tundra planet. Analysis indicates it may be some sort of distress signal.”

_Distress signal…_ “Lumen!”

Completely disregarding the rules of tech safety, Nyota ran for the teleporter, hit the coordinates of the stone house, and vanished into a beam of light. She materialized a few moments later right outside. Lumen was waiting for her. The Novakid’s warm orange glow was an almost sickly pale cream, his cytoplasm crackling audibly.

“Not a moment too soon, Nyota!” he exclaimed as she stood up. “Ya got my signal, then?”

“Yes, I did. Are you alright, Lumen?” Nyota asked.

Lumen nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Bit scratched, but I’ve had worse. Come in. Yer soaked, and cold’s none too good for organic sorts, right?”

Nyota frowned, though she followed him inside anyway. “You’re injured?”

The Novakid waved a hand dismissively. “Not important now,” he said, pulling up a seat at the old wooden table. “I called ya because my friend’s missin’, and I can’t get her back alone. I tried, but them Apex scientists…”

Nyota froze. “Apex scientists?”

“That’s right. Tall, furry, white lab coats? Got a buildin’ just a ways past the ol’ swamp?” Lumen said. He seemed to be watching her thoughtfully. “Ya know who they are.” It wasn’t a question.

“I know _what_ they are.” Nyota sat down. “You’d best tell me everything.”

Lumen sighed, making a sound like a rush of radio static, and pulled a letter out of his shirt pocket. He put it on the table in front of her. “I got this just after you left. It’s from my friend, Sonny. She was on that shuttle with me, the one the pirates attacked. Guess she came here lookin’ for me, and some of the Glitch who live in that castle over yonder told her where I am. We were gonna meet up east of here.” He looked down at the table. “I got there a bit too late… Showed up right in time to see a bunch of these white-coated Apex goons bag her. Just… poof. No fight. One of the devils shocked her brand and she went out. I tried… I tried to fight ‘em.” His left hand curled into a fist, his right moving subconsciously to a long tear in his shirt. The edges were singed.

“I’m no fighter,” he continued, much quieter. “When I came to, there was no sign of ‘em. I followed the tracks as far as I could.” His plasma dimmed; Nyota could see electric sparks flickering in the depths.

“Where did they go, Lumen?” she asked.

-

Nyota crouched outside the building Lumen had told her about; at her insistence, he had stayed behind. He hadn’t been too pleased with that option, but he knew he wouldn’t be much help in this. The building was definitely Miniknog construction. Nyota was all too familiar with the style. It was recent, which meant the defenses, at least, would be a bit sub-par… she had a decent chance, then.

The door slid open easily. _Good to see they haven’t changed the password algorithm, at least_. The sentry bot didn’t have time to notice her before a shot from her rifle took it down. She heard voices up ahead. Her hearing wasn’t sharp enough to pick out the words through the steel door, but they were definitely Apex voices. “SAIL,” she whispered, “can you scan the building? I want to know exactly how many I’m up against.” Intelligence was half the battle. Her mentor had hammered that lesson into her long ago.

“Numbers are difficult to determine,” SAIL reported after a few seconds. “There are numerous lifeforms from various biomes in this building. It would be reasonable to assume that the Miniknog have gathered a wide variety of fauna not native to this planet. On your floor, I am reading four Apex and one Glitch. There is a high-energy signature on the floor above you. I assume this is the missing Novakid. There are two more Apex on that floor.”

“Six…” Not the worst odds she’d ever dealt with, but it wasn’t going to be easy. Nyota slid the second door open. Her entrance was immediately followed by cries of alarm.

“Hostiles detected!”

“It’s the resistance!”

“Intruder!”

Nyota fired off one shot, stowed her gun as the first scientist fell, and drew her spear.


	17. Sonny

“Concerned. Are you alright?”

Nyota crouched, panting, in the middle of the room. Smoking holes cracked the walls and floor around her and her armor was singed and cracked by the scientists’ pistol shots, but she, at least, had made it through. Her opponents hadn’t been so lucky. “I’ll be fine,” she told the Glitch standing over her. “I just need to catch my breath.” It wasn’t entirely true. One of the scientists had gotten clever after she took out a second one and gotten inside her reach. The red stimpak had stopped the bleeding, at least.

“Impressed. You fought off all those people at once! How did you do it? Who are you, anyway?” the Glitch asked. He offered Nyota a hand and pulled her to her feet.

“I’m just a wanderer,” Nyota said, flicking a bit of blood off her spear. “A friend of mine got in a bit of trouble with this lot. Did you see a Novakid in here?”

“Thoughtful. I didn’t see one, but I heard a voice from upstairs that didn’t sound like an Apex,” the Glitch said. He stared suspiciously at her. “Incredulous. Are you really just a wanderer? Even our knights can’t move like that!”

Nyota smiled grimly. “In fairness to your knights, my armor is nowhere near as heavy. You should get out of here. It’s about to get very messy.” She headed for the elevator as the Glitch obediently ran for the exit. Voice might mean Sonny was still alive, at least.

The climb was far too quiet. Even considering how fast she dealt with the scientists downstairs, there should still have been some guards around. _Perhaps they’re out abducting someone else…_ The thought made her faintly sick. The sickly sweet chemical scent wasn't helping. She shook her head and locked the memories back down. _Not now._

As the lift reached the top of its track and Nyota stepped off, she spotted the two scientists. They were standing in front of some kind of humming cylinder, a magnetic force-wall. Something inside was giving off a pale green glow. At the moment her foot hit the floor, one of the Apex turned around, and froze. Nyota stopped too, staring at the all-too-familiar face, her rifle out and raised, but she couldn’t fire.

“You!” the scientist exclaimed, making her colleague turn as well. “But you were… your file was…!” She pulled something small and black out of her pocket: a radio.

“Sorry,” Nyota whispered. That was the one thing she couldn’t risk. The first shot smashed the radio. The second found a much softer target. The third and fourth caught the other scientist as he tried to return fire.

Nyota found the key card in the first scientist’s coat pocket. It didn’t take her long to find the appropriate console and unlock the force wall. A Novakid; judging by the thin splits along her hands, she’d been beating on the wall for a while now. Nyota flinched as she caught the Novakid, though she managed not to drop her. It was like grabbing hot ceramic. Her gloves kept out the worst of it, but she knew she’d be feeling those burns later.

“What… who? You’re not… one of them?” the Novakid asked, her voice warping and cracking like a badly tuned radio. She stepped back, swaying slightly on her feet.

“No, I’m not. Lumen sent me,” Nyota said. “Are you Sonny?”

“Lumen? He’s alright?” The heat faded slightly as color started leeching back into the Novakid’s plasma. “Oh thank goodness… Yes, I’m Sonny. Who’re you?”

“Nyota, but we can save the details for later. Can you walk? We need to get out of here.”  Nyota helped Sonny over to the elevator. The Novakid was really unsteady on her feet. Hairline cracks glowed faintly along her sun-shaped brand.

“Are you alright?” Nyota asked as they stepped onto the elevator. She faintly remembered something Isobu had told her once about how important a brand was to a Novakid, and what happened when it got damaged. It was worrying, seeing visible damage like that.

“Sorry,” Sonny apologized, leaning against her. “’m just a bit dizzy. They did somethin’ funny to my brand and everythin’ feels strange…”

Nyota stowed her rifle. “I can carry you if it’s too much.”

“Are ya sure?” Sonny tried to straighten up, with mixed success.

The Apex knelt down. “Don’t worry about it. Novakid don’t weigh much. Climb on my back.” She felt a warm weight settle against her and stood up as Sonny wrapped her arms loosely around Nyota’s neck.

“You’re a nice one, Nyota,” the Novakid mumbled. “Lumen’s found a good friend… Say, that one scientist… she acted kinda like she knew ya.”

“Did she?” Nyota asked. “I was too far away to notice.” It was a blatant lie, but the Novakid didn’t seem to notice or care. She just hummed and snuggled a little closer, her glow fading slightly as she drifted off to sleep.

**

“I can’t thank ya enough,” Lumen said. He and Nyota sat together outside the stone house, watching the sky lighten. “If Sonny’d gotten killed because I was too weak to stop them scumbags, I…” his voice trailed off and he shook his head.

“Will she be alright?” Nyota asked. The green Novakid had slept the whole way back, barely waking at all when Lumen had moved her from Nyota to the bed.

Lumen nodded. “Think so. Her brand’s taken a bit of a scorchin’ from that shock they gave her, but a bit of rest oughta sort that out. It ain't core deep. We don’t look it, but us Novas’re a tough lot. If we live through whatever got us, we mend right quick. She’ll bounce back before ya know it.”

“Is that so…?” Nyota couldn’t help remembering Isobu. He’d told her stories about some of the nastier scraped he’d been in; she’d discounted half of them as tall tales, but there might have been truth to them after all. Had he made it out of that apocalypse too? Perhaps he was still out there somewhere, wandering the stars.

“Ya look a bit distant, Nyota,” Lumen remarked, snapping her back to the present. “Getting’ tired?”

“No… well, I guess so. I was just remembering a friend,” Nyota said, standing up. “Do you mind if I spend the night? My ship doesn’t have much in the way of beds.”

“Yer welcome to stay as long as ya like. Ya saved Sonny. I can’t ever thank ya for that.”

-

Lumen was waiting for her when she woke up the next morning. “There ya are!” he greeted her cheerfully, his plasma almost sparkling.

“Good morning, Lumen,” Nyota replied, stifling a yawn. She ached everywhere, but she was getting used to waking up like that… “And you too, Sonny,” she added, spotting the green Novakid. “I wasn’t expecting to see you up so soon. How are you?”

“I’m feelin’ right as rain now, thanks to yer help,” Sonny replied, waving at her. “But Lumen here’s such a worrywart. He won’t let me go visit the Glitch today. I wanted to see if that fellow who got caught with me made it back alright.”

The orange Novakid crackled, his equivalent of a frustrated sigh. “I told ya, rest first! Yer brand’s still a mess after getting’ shocked like that.”

Sonny made a similar crackling noise, though hers was higher-pitched, closer to fizzing. “It’s not far! I can walk fine now. And I’ve got a gun, so I can fight.”

Lumen pressed a hand to his brand, a gesture remarkably similar to a human with a headache. The darker clouding in his cytoplasm making it quite clear that he didn’t like that idea.

“Your kind really are rash,” Nyota said, joining them at the table.

Lumen chuckled. “Don’t I know it…Alright, off ya go,” he told Sonny. “Just… be careful, alright? I don’t want ya explodin’ and ruinin’ the scenery.”

“Exploding?” Nyota’s eyes widened.

“What, ya didn’t know? Novakid go bang when we die, like a star goin’ supernova. Right messy, it is,” he explained, looking up at her. “Though I guess if ya had known, ya wouldn’t have offered to carry Sonny like that.”

“I might have thought a bit harder about it,” Nyota admitted, “but there’s no way I could just leave her there.”

“See, Lumen? I told ya she’s perfect!” Sonny said, nudging him.

“Oh shush. Tie yer bootlaces.”

Nyota leaned forward, curious. “Perfect for what?”

“Lumen thinks he wants to—” Sunny began.

“Shush! I can tell her myself!” Lumen sighed and leaned back, turning his face toward the ceiling. “Me and Sonny were talkin’ before ya got up,” he explained. “And, well… it’s kinda stupid… But, well, ya got a ship. Gets kinda lonely in space, don’t it? To tell the truth, I’ve been getting’ kinda bored on this cold rock here. Hearin’ all yer stories… they got me itchin’ to move on again. I know I’m no fighter, but…”

Sonny hummed impatiently. “Get on with it, Lumen,” she hissed.

Lumen dimmed until there was only a tiny orange gleam at the heart of his plasma. “Thing is, from all I heard and what ya’ve done for us… Aw, heck.” The gleam brightened just a little bit. “Captain Nyota, yer _just_  the kind of person I should work with. Fancy employing me?”

“I’d be happy to have you along,” Nyota said, quashing her surprise long enough to form an intelligent reply, “but you say you’re ‘no fighter’ quite often. It’s a rough universe. Will you be alright?”

“I’ll learn. And I can patch ya up after yer done fightin’,” he added with a quiet laugh. “If ya work a Novakid bar long enough, ya learn a thing or two ‘bout keepin’ folks alive. So even if I can’t fight well, I can mend ya if ya get in over yer head.”

“And Sonny?” Nyota asked.

“I’ll be fine here,” Sonny said, gesturing at the house. “Lumen said I could stay here until I want to move on, and the Glitch in the next valley are nice people. Don’t you worry ‘bout me.”

“I guess that settles it,” the Apex said, offering Lumen her hand. “Welcome aboard, First Mate Lumen.”


	18. Into the Library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second Relic mission begins! Small heads-up, it's much longer than the Floran one. Thank you to everyone who has left feedback, whether comments or kudos. It's greatly appreciated ^.^

“Congratulations!” SAIL said as Nyota and Lumen stepped off the teleporter. “You’ve found your first crew member. Talk to me on your ship to manage crew members and monitor their status.”

“What the hey is that thing?” Lumen asked. He poked SAIL’s screen. “Huh. Some kind of computer gizmo… Not a bad ship ya’ve got,” he added, looking around. “Though ya weren’t kiddin’ about no beds.” He chuckled, a couple wayward sparks lighting up his brand. “There ain’t much of anythin’. Where’d ya sleep?”

“Anywhere I can find a bed, really,” Nyota admitted, heading for the storage locker. “I have a base of sorts set up on the first world I visited, but I have not been back there in a while. There is far too much to do. Here, try this on,” she said, tossing him a bundle of clothes. “I’m afraid it’s not exactly top of the line in Novakid fashion, but it’s sturdy. Your clothes are still a bit tattered from dealing with the Miniknog.” Nyota had mended her own gear the night before, but from what she could tell, needlework was not considered a typical Novakid talent.

“Hey, it’s the same color as my shirt,” Lumen remarked, turning around and around in an effort to get a better look at himself. “Nice find! Sleeves are a mite stiff, and there ain’t enough pockets, but it’ll do. …ah, wow…” he murmured, stopping abruptly to stare out the porthole. “I’d forgotten how much I loved the stars…”

The Novakid stared silently out the window for several moments, then shook himself. “Ah, sorry ‘bout that,” he said, turning back to her. “Anywho… where are we off to?”

“We’re going to go see an old woman about an artifact,” Nyota said, unable to quite hide her smile. “Do you remember what I told you about the Ark?”

“We’re going _there_?” Lumen literally fizzed with excitement. “Yeehaw! Lead the way, Captain!”

-

Nyota stepped quickly off the teleporter pad, ignoring the dizziness, so Lumen wouldn’t land on top of her. “So,” she asked, as the Novakid materialized, “what do you think?”

Lumen wasn’t fizzing anymore. He just glowed softly, staring at the colossal sculpture and ruins below. “Stars… it’s even more impressive in person,” he whispered. He followed in awed silence as Nyota led him down the steps. Nyota repeated the story Esther had told her about the Cultivator and the Ruin as they passed each hologram.

The Novakid stopped beside the last hologram, the one showing the Cultivator's gifts. “Six races, holdin’ something,” he said, looking up at it. “Why aren’t my kind on here?”

Nyota followed his gaze, but she couldn’t find an answer.

“Ah, welcome back, dear!” Esther called as the pair climbed the steps. “And you’ve brought a friend, I see.”

“The name’s Lumen, ma’am. And I guess yer Esther? Nyota—ah, Captain’s told me about you. It’s a pleasure to make yer acquaintance,” the Novakid said, offering her a handshake, which she accepted with considerably more vigor than he had expected. “Whoo, nice grip ya got there.”

Esther laughed. “It comes with practice, dear. Captain, is it now?” she added, looking at Nyota.

“Lumen volunteered as medic,” Nyota explained. “As the Protectorate consists of just the two of us at the moment, I assumed that the standard Command tests are indefinitely suspended.” She kept as still as possible, resisting the urge to fidget nervously.

“Well, I see no harm in it, and a great deal of good. Consider your promotion approved, Captain Saimiri,” Esther said, her eyes twinkling. “You look after her, Lumen,” she added, “since she’s not all that good at doing so herself. Now don’t give me that look,” she told Nyota, who had opened her mouth to protest. “You can handle yourself in a fight, no doubt about that, but when did you last get a full night’s rest, or have a decent meal?”

“Last night at Lumen’s home,” Nyota said promptly, “though… a bit longer for the meal, I’m afraid. But we are so close to the Relic now. I can rest afterward. What did you find out, Esther?”

The old woman sighed, though her fond smile didn’t slip. “You’re just like me at that age, always rushing off to the next project… But you didn’t come here to get lectured, I’m sure. Let’s see… From what you’ve found, it seems the Hylotl artifact is cloistered deep beneath the ocean in a place called The Grand Pagoda Library. The Library is very ancient. It should be an interesting visit.”

“I have received the coordinates for The Grand Pagoda Library,” SAIL reported over Nyota’s earpiece. “I can teleport you there as soon as you return to the ship.”

“Excellent. Hope you’re ready for an adventure, Lumen.” Nyota couldn't quite hide her smile.  _A library!_

The Novakid fizzed happily. “Time to up stakes and go! Lead on, Captain!”

**

“So… ya use that all the time?” Lumen asked as he and Nyota materialized at the coordinates Esther gave them.

“Yes, why?” Nyota asked. She was only half listening; her old motion sickness was back, and the Grand Pagoda Library loomed ahead of them. It was one of the most impressive buildings she had ever seen. Apex built for practicality and uniformity, not beauty. The Hylotl were perhaps the opposite of that, but for all that their paper walls were impractical, something about their work always took her breath away.

“Eh, nothin’. Just feels funny, that’s all. Whooo, now there’s a sight!” Lumen exclaimed as he turned around and caught sight of the building. “That Relic is hidden away somewhere in there?”

The Apex nodded. “Somewhere below it, if Esther’s notes are right. Come on, we can admire it later.”

Lumen laughed, sparking. “Ya tellin’ me, or yerself?”

Nyota was vaguely disappointed upon entering the building. There were a few old tomes stacked on shelves, but the rooms were sadly bare.  _Of course they wouldn’t keep the books up here,_ she told herself. _Anyone could just walk in and steal them._

Something crackled up ahead, sounding uncannily like Lumen. It certainly wasn’t a Novakid voice that followed. “Is someone there?! The library’s motion sensors are picking up a signal. You have to help me!”

The voice seemed to be coming from some kind of Hylotl hologram. It showed a particularly lanky specimen, possibly male. _One of the displays?_ “I would help,” Nyota offered cautiously, “but I don’t know who or where you are.”

The hologram adjusted its glasses. “I’m sorry… My name is Koichi. I was here researching great Hylotl thinkers. But… these VILLAINS showed up! Violent criminals! I fled to the basement! I’m barricaded in here with an artifact that they seem to want to steal.”

“An artifact!” Lumen whispered. “Think it’s our Relic?”

“Shhh,” Nyota hissed, though she’d been thinking along the same lines.

Oblivious to the whispered conversation, the hologram was still talking. “I’m sorry to impose, but please rescue me!” he begged. “I’ll open the entrance hatch.” There was a quiet click and a metal plate slid out of the way, revealing a narrow hole in the floor. A few seconds later, the hologram winked out.

“Well, that was… unexpected,” Nyota remarked, hopping through and landing on some kind of elevator.

“Unexpected? Really?” Lumen followed her through. “Aw, come on, Captain! Ya oughta know better. A hero’s always gotta fight some big bad guy before he gets the treasure. Or she,” he corrected himself. “And ain’t it a funny damsel we’re rescuin’,” he added with a quiet chuckle.

“I’m not a hero,” Nyota said. “Just a wanderer.” _I’ve done too much to be a hero._

“Yer a hero to me ‘n’ Sonny,” Lumen said adamantly, “and that’s what counts.”

Nyota patted his shoulder, her throat strangely stiff. She couldn’t quite find enough of a voice to say _thanks._

The elevator slid silently down through a great shaft of glass and steel. Nyota could see the ocean outside, bubbles rolling up the windows and glinting in what little light managed to get through. “Current exterior pressure reading 15 quash,” SAIL reported. “Scans show this structure is capable of withstanding in excess of 80 quash. Chance of survival – surprisingly high.”

“As ever, SAIL, I appreciate your faith in my resilience,” Nyota commented, turning the speaker down a bit, “and also your decision to scan the building _after_ I am too deep to escape if it does give out.”

There was another hologram generator at the end of the long tunnel, but Nyota didn’t notice it at first. She was too busy staring open-mouthed at the rest of the room, at shelf after towering shelf of books. The Protectorate had a library, but most of its material was digital. Apex had their own libraries once, or so Nyota had heard, but those were long gone, confiscated and burned. She had never seen so many books in one place. She had never even imagined it. The faint whiff of mildew in the air told her many of these books were past saving, but still… _If I could have seen this place in its prime…_

“You’re making excellent time,” Koichi’s hologram remarked, drawing Nyota’s longing stare away from the shelves, “which is good news indeed. This library is suffering from sorry neglect. I’m afraid you might need to take the long way around. But I can assist you! I can monitor the library through these old holographic projection displays.”

“That is good to hear,” Nyota told him. “Which way should we go?”


	19. Deeper and Damper

“It’s real _spooky_ down here,” Lumen remarked, pausing to glance through a window at the dark ocean before hurrying after Nyota.

Nyota nodded as she hit a switch to open the next gate. She had been excited by the idea of the Library at first, but all she felt now was the weight of years and the vast, yawning silence that always lingered in abandoned places. Some of the shelves creaked with the weight of their contents as she passed.

“I apologize for your having to stumble around in the dark,” Koichi’s hologram said as they approached the next projector. “There’s a breaker for this room nearby…”

The books in the room above were in somewhat better condition, based on the lessened mildew smell, though it was impossible to see much without her Matter Manipulator’s flashlight. Nyota managed to spot the breaker after a few minutes. Even after hitting it, though, the room remained poorly lit, lights flickering and humming. Lumen’s color faded a bit.

“I know it’s silly, but flickering lights always make me nervous,” he muttered as he followed Nyota out.

“What’s wrong with the lights?” she asked, though her mind was only half on the question. The next door was being stubborn.

“Humans’ve got a word for it, though I can’t remember. Uncanny somethin’. It looks a bit too like a Novakid whose brand ain’t right,” Lumen confessed. “…I hope Sonny’s gettin’ on alright.”

“You said she wouldd be fine, didn’t you?” He certainly had Nyota’s attention now.

“Yeah, she oughta be… but I still fret, can’t help it.” He sighed, a rush of static. “C’mon, let’s keep goin’. Ol’ fishfins’ll be waitin’ for us.”

The next room smelled of mildew again, but the bookshelves were in much better condition, and the lights shone steadily on colorful bindings and old art. “I know this library is in disrepair,” Koichi’s hologram remarked as Nyota approached, “but isn’t it still wondrous? So many resources! Thousands of years of literature, art, and essay! Did you know that the texts here predate our near-extinction at the hands of the Floran hordes?”

“Your history stretches that far back?” Nyota asked, astonished. She looked around at the shelves; some of them stretched almost to the ceiling in this room. It would take a lifetime to read all of them. “…Lumen, what are you doing?”

The Novakid was flipping through a slim volume. “Hey, look, Captain! I found one on Novakid!” he said happily. “[Never invite a Novakid to tea](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fstarbounder.org%2FNever_Invite_a_Novakid_to_Tea&t=Y2Y2M2U2MjdkNWQ4ZjJjYzhkZjVmNDA0MGRlNTQ3MDIwMWQ3OWE5ZSxONFBZaXFvUw%3D%3D&b=t%3AXXhj7FZb4QSm9gTp8IWjkw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fnyotasaimiri.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F151929835014%2Fgrand-pagoda-library-part-2&m=1)… Funny title, that is. Guess I can read later, though. We got places to be.” He put the book back, a bit sadly. He turned toward Nyota, then stopped and drew his gun. “Er, Captain? We got trouble.”

Nyota followed her gaze, readying her spear. A couple of small blue creatures were flopping around, just past the rows of bookshelves. She couldn’t remember ever seeing something like them in the old textbooks…

“They’re cute, but their spit hurts somethin’ awful,” Lumen said, sneaking closer for an easier shot. “Best get ‘em before they notice us.”

Nyota nodded. “You take the left one.”

-

“That… was actually rather easy,” Nyota remarked as she shook the last bit of goo off her spear. She made a mental note to look those creatures up later, and see if SAIL had a comprehensive bestiary somewhere. Clearly there were still quite a few hostile creatures she knew nothing about, which would mean trouble if she ran into them.

A few more of the bulbous critters waited in rooms ahead, but they didn’t run into any real trouble until water started sloshing around their feet. “Ah, that’s no good, Captain,” Lumen said, stopping at the edge of the puddles, “it looks like the place is flooded up ahead.”

“Can’t swim?” Nyota asked.

“Ehhh…” Lumen shifted uncomfortably. “I can swim okay, but Novakid and water…”

_Right. Water makes them burn too fast._ “I’ll see if I can deal with it. Wait here.” Activating her breathing EPP, Nyota waded as deep as she could and dove under. A red light glinted through the gloom as she neared the bottom; here was a lever beneath it. Nyota pulled the lever and heard a quiet rumble start up nearby as the light turned from red to blue. A few moments later, she felt the suction as the water level started to drop.

“Thanks, Captain,” Lumen said as he climbed down to meet her. “Sorry I’m such a jitterbug…” He hummed softly and scuffed a boot on the floor, embarrassed, a couple of stray sparks flickering through him and casting odd shadows beneath him.

“You’re a bartender,” Nyota said, patting his shoulder as she walked past to get the door open. “It is not the kind of job that prepares you for adventures. Even following me out here is a bit above and beyond the call of duty. And you have not run yet,” she added with a smile.

“I won’t run,” Lumen promised her. “Come what may, I won’t run.”

Another hologram flickered to life in the next room. “The library’s motion sensors are picking up movement below your location…” Koichi observed as the pair approached. “Please be careful down there! These people are violent thugs!” The hatch clicked open as the hologram faded.

They climbed down in silence. Lumen’s glow faded to almost nonexistent; Nyota wasn’t sure if he was nervous or just trying to be stealthier. It nearly worked. They reached the bottom of the ladder before someone in the next room said, “Hey, I see a light over there.”

“It’s probably nothing. That fish just got some of the lights working again,” another person said. Both voices were strangely muffled.

“No… the lights here are bluish,” the first voice said. “This one’s orange.”

A purple hood poked over the wooden partition. Its owner had enough time for a startled shout and to level her gun at the two before three quick shots knocked her tumbling backwards. “Watch for the other one!” Lumen called, reloading his gun.

“Nonbelievers!” the second voice shouted as his companion hit the floor.

Nyota vaulted over the wall, landing in a pile of old, ruined books. If she’d been bothering with conscious thought right now, she would probably have cringed, but the second figure had drawn a sword. His blade hissed toward her, hitting the shaft of her spear with bone-shaking force. Metal ground against metal as he tried to unbalance her and she struggled to keep her footing on the sliding books. “The universe doesn’t need your kind, ape!” he snarled. His breath ground hot against her face. She felt herself slip. One step, two.

“Get… away!” Nyota’s left foot found solid ground. She braced herself, then shoved forward with all the force she could muster. The man practically flew backwards, holding onto his sword more through luck than skill. Another shot rang out and the sword went spinning through the air, burying itself in a desk. He turned, either to retrieve the blade or to run, but barely made it more than a half a step before Nyota’s spear caught him between the shoulder blades. He vanished in a burst of light.

“What… how?” Nyota stood there for a second as her brain caught up to her body, then lowered her spear. “Good shooting there, Lumen,” she said, turning around.

“Eh, it’s nothin’ fancy,” the Novakid said, his glow brightening again. He jumped down from the wall, careful to land in the one clear patch of floor, and looked around. “Where’d they go, though?”

“I… don’t know,” Nyota said slowly. “That… it looked like an old variety of Protectorate technology I read about, a way to keep Protectors from dying as we explored unknown worlds. It was experimental, unstable. But how would… who were they?”


	20. Submersion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This](https://nyotasaimiri.tumblr.com/post/158108308401/you-got-a-sharp-eye-how-about-a-shootin-match) is what Lumen looks like, if you're curious.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip to the next hologram was uneventful, though both Nyota and Lumen were feeling tense now. Mindless slime monsters were one thing; hooded assassins were another entirely. Despite Lumen’s best efforts, Nyota’s joints still ached from blocking the one man’s attack. She had never met a human capable of hitting as hard as an Apex before. “Small wonder Koichi was afraid of them,” she mused aloud as they reached the bottom of another ladder.

“Eh? The purple guys? Well, if you’re built like a string bean, anythin’s scary…” Lumen said, chuckling. “Anyhow, we handled ‘em alright, didn’t we? Next time we just shoot first so they can’t hit ya. Hey, speakin’ of string beans, there’s another hologram. …do you think he can hear me?” he added, his voice dropping to a whisper.

If Koichi could hear Lumen, he gave no sign of it. “The room ahead is flooded… I had to swim through,” he warned them. “I think you’re going to have to do the same.”

Lumen made a sound remarkably like a broken radio hum, followed by a short crackle.

Nyota shot him an appraising look. She’d hung around Isobu long enough to pick up something of Novakid profanity. Some things just didn’t need words. “You will be fine if we move quickly,” she said.

“You don’t have to worry about the water leeching in,” the Novakid muttered. “But I said I’d follow, and yer sure to find trouble if I’m not with ya.”

“I’ll find trouble if you _are_ with me, too,” Nyota remarked, heading into the next hallway. “But I’d rather have your company, all the same.” She was too busy adjusting her gear to notice the pleased glow flickering just behind his brand. As she turned back toward him, the hatches above them opened. Lumen’s face went almost white with shock as the water poured down.

Bubbles. Weight. Silence. Something hot grabbed her arm and pulled.

Nyota opened her eyes as the pounding faded. Everything was murky, almost ethereal, the bubbles backlit by Lumen’s warm glow. _‘What happened?’_ she tried to ask, but the water swallowed her voice.

Lumen’s brand made an eerie droning noise as he adjusted to the sudden change in temperature. Bubbles hissed around him, briefly superheated. “You okay there, Captain?” he asked. His voice sounded funny, but at least she could understand it.

Nyota nodded, though the motion made her head spin a bit, then gestured at the next room. Her crewmate was already dimming a bit. Time to move.

Her common sense told her they were only swimming for a few minutes, but it felt like hours. Without the faint outline of long-submerged bookshelves, she would never have figured out which way was up. Lumen’s hand held tight to hers as they pushed through the dark waters. Finally, she spotted a patch of ceiling that was unlike the rest: the hatch. Nyota grabbed the handle and wrenched it open. She kicked hard, pushing herself out of the water just enough to reach the next ledge up. Even considering the weight of sodden fur, it was a lot harder to haul herself up than it should have been. She pulled Lumen up beside her, then just stood there panting, waiting for her breathing to slow. It still felt like the room was spinning.

“We should move on,” she said eventually. “How are you holding up, Lumen?”

“Eh… been better,” the Novakid murmured. The plasma just behind his brand flickered with white sparks, but the rest of him was strangely dull. “Bit low on juice, that’s all.”

“You are injured?” Nyota couldn’t remember him getting hurt, but her mind was a bit fuzzy right now, so perhaps she’d missed something…

Lumen waved his hand dismissively. “Nah, nothin’ like that. Just tried to do somethin’ I shouldn’t have. Better’n what could’ve happened otherwise, but whooo…” He swayed, grabbing the wall to steady himself.

Nyota passed him a rations packet. “Eat that. It might help. We can move on when you’re ready.”

**

“We’d best keep going, Captain,” Lumen said after a few minutes. “Lead the way, I’ll be right behind ya.”

It was a long, dark walk through the next few rooms, illuminated only by sparse desk lamps. There weren’t nearly as many bookshelves down here, and what few remained were smaller, their contents almost welded together by the damp. Nyota found herself hating the sight of the shelves. _Apex might have lost our history to the Miniknog,_ she thought, _but at least we didn’t allow it to rot._

The bookshelves began to grow taller again right as Nyota spotted the telltale blue glow of a hologram. “There you are!” Koichi exclaimed, the relief in his voice clear even through the crackly hologram speakers. “I was starting to get worried. I’m afraid this is the last holographic display. Be careful, I hope to see you soon!”

“Wait, Koichi! What’s… blast,” Nyota muttered as the hologram blinked out. “Guess we’ll have to see for ourselves what’s down there.”

“More of those purple goons, I bet,” Lumen commented as he followed her to the last elevator. “But we got ‘em good last time. Wish I could go a bit dimmer without dozing off,” he added in a frustrated grumble. “I stick out like a sore thumb down here.”

“Actually… Don’t bother,” Nyota said. “I have an idea.”

The shaft seemed to go on for ages. Lumen shifted nervously, checking for the third time that his pistol was loaded and his emergency kit close at hand. Nyota stood as still as she could, running over her options. There would be no time to think after fighting began. As soon as the elevator reached the bottom, Nyota drew her sword. She’d need to get in close for this to work.

As predicted, there were two more hooded figures in the next room. As hoped, they immediately looked up as they caught sight of Lumen’s glow, completely missing the dark-clad Apex. “What _are_ you?” one asked, drawing his gun.

“Doesn’t matter,” the other said. “You’re not human. You won’t leave this place!” He took aim, then crumbled sideways as Nyota’s sword bit into him. He dissolved into light before he hit the ground.

“Another one!” The first person exclaimed, almost dropping his pistol in shock. He recovered with surprising speed, hopping backwards as Nyota’s sword swung for his face in a hissing arc. “Don’t think you can get away, nonbeliever!”

_Sh—too close!_

“Oh no ya don’t!” Two shots rang out; the man screamed and his shot went wide, clipping Nyota’s shoulder. She ignored the burn and lunged.

“Thank you, Lumen,” Nyota said as she headed back toward her crewmate.

“That was all you, Captain,” the Novakid said. “Whoo-ee, but ya can move like a snake when ya want to! I ain’t never seen anythin’ like it, and with a big ol’ sword at that. Are ya hurt?”

“It’s noth—” Her eyes went wide. “Lumen! Behind you!”


	21. The Depths

Lumen whirled, pistol raised, and stumbled as the books shifted beneath his feet. That stumble saved his life. The first bullet, aimed for his brand, shot over his head. The second went through his left arm. He dropped his gun with a pained grunt. White-hot plasma hissed out of the wound. Mildewed pages crackled and curled.

“You’ll pay dearly for this,” the shooter snarled, taking aim again. “You’ll all pay, when—oh.” Her head slid one way, her body fell the other. Like the others, she melted into light. Nyota felt a keen disappointment as she flicked the blood off her blade. She sheathed the sword and hurried back to Lumen’s side. The Novakid was trying to tie a strip of cloth over the hole to stop the plasma from leaking out, without much success.

“Thanks, Captain,” he said as Nyota helped him finish. “It’s not as easy one-handed.” He picked up his gun again, checked for damage, and returned it to its holster.

“You plan to keep fighting?” the Apex asked.

“I gotta defend myself, and keep ya on yer feet,” Lumen said. “Don’t ya worry about me, Captain. I’ll be right as rain before ya know it. It’ll take more’n a hole in my arm and a bit of a soaking to keep this ol’ varmint down.” He patted the bandage, his glow brightening a bit.

His light _felt_ like a smile, bright and confident, and Nyota found herself smiling back. “You Novakid really are a tough lot.”

Lumen chuckled. “Darn right. Let’s go.”

-

“You are now approaching the basement level,” SAIL reported as the last elevator took them on its long, slow route to the final floor of the library. “My readings are distorted, but I can estimate your Peril level, if you wish…”

“What the hey’s a Peril level?” Lumen whispered.

Nyota ignored the question, partially because she had no idea either. “I think I can guess it well enough myself, SAIL. But keep scanning the area around us. Let me know if you pick up any anomalies.”

Lumen tapped her shoulder and pointed below them. “I’m pickin’ up an anomaly myself, Captain. More cloak goons.”

“How many?”

“Two. Been watchin’ ‘em for a little while. They ain’t spotted us yet.”

They had the advantage of distance this time. Nyota pulled out her rifle. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.”

Sniping had always been her favorite tactic. The two figures never even knew what hit them. “I wonder who they are,” the Apex wondered aloud as she jumped down from the elevator, stowing her gun again.

Her earpiece hummed as it shifted frequencies. “I’ve heard of these cultists, but I know little about them…” Esther remarked. Her voice was a little distorted; probably an effect of the depth.

“Glad to hear from you at last,” Nyota said. “I was starting to wonder if SAIL had locked you out again. Could I get a favor, Esther? I need to know more about these people. Knowledge is half the battle.”

“I’ll do what I can, dearie, but I can’t promise anything,” the old woman replied. “I wonder if…? Who can say.”

A hissing Floran laugh cut in, making both Nyota and Lumen jump. “Don’t worry about it!” Nuru told her cheerfully. “Murderous strangers are totally your sspecialty.”

 _Strangers? No, it’s the familiar ones that…_ “Hold that thought. One of them dropped something,” Nyota said. She scrambled up a pile of wooden rubble and old shelves. There was a long rod resting on the ledge. As her hand closed around it, the glass orb at its tip hummed to life.

“Oh, stars…” Nyota breathed as the strangest feeling surged through her. She’d heard of staves, weapons that could harness raw energy. They were said to use technology as old as the stars themselves. She’d never even seen one, let alone touched one. It felt like having a thunderstorm at her fingertips.

“What is it, Captain?” Lumen asked, leaning over her shoulder for a better look.

Nyota didn’t answer at first. She headed back for the more open area at the bottom of the shaft, then raised the staff, feeling its energy rush through her as light built in the orb. When she couldn’t hold it any longer, she flicked the staff, watching the crackling blue light whirl around. It didn’t even need physical direction from her; it just followed her thoughts.

“Now ain’t that a wonder,” Lumen murmured. “I haven’t seen one of them in a very long time.”

The Apex lowered the staff, letting the light wink out. “I’ve only ever heard of them. I wonder how those cultists got ahold of it.”

Lumen shrugged. “Maybe it was a Hylotl treasure. It’s a mighty fine storm-stick. Bet it’ll give them cultists a headache,” he added with a fizzing laugh.

“Speaking of… there are bound to be more of them down here. Stay close,” Nyota ordered. She stowed the staff for now; it was entertaining to use, and no doubt powerful, but tiring. A last resort.

-

More cultists blocked the way ahead as Nyota and Lumen trekked through the deepest caverns of the library, but these were no challenge compared to the ones they’d faced above. “Perhaps they left the more skilled ones to watch for intruders,” Nyota mused aloud, picking her way through piles of discarded books.

The deeper they went, the worse the destruction grew. Piles of torn and tattered books lay scattered around the floor; massive shelves blocked the way forward, forcing them to climb over or (on two occasions) cut their way through. “What in blue blazes happened down here?” Lumen asked as he helped pull Nyota through a crevice.

“Oof. Thanks… I’d guess the cultists happened. This must be where Koichi ran into them,” she said, indicating scorch marks on the edge of the shelf. Something about the marks made her lean in closer. “Strange… Look at this, Lumen. It’s burned… but by something with a cutting edge. The burns are too precise to have been done afterward. Some sort of energy weapon, maybe?” None of the cultists so far had one.

“Hope we don’t meet whatever did that,” the Novakid said with a shiver. “I dunno about you organic sorts, but Novas aren’t exactly fond of swords that can burn, too. We don’t mend well from that.”

“Miss Nyota?” SAIL cut in.

“Yes? What is it?” Nyota switched her earpiece to speaker mode. After all they’d been through today, it felt rude to cut Lumen out of details now.

“You had asked me to scan for anomalies,” the AI began. “If you recall, you had asked me to search for a unique high-sodium signature back on Earth. My sensors are reading a signature remarkably similar to the signal I picked up then, just before the Ruin disrupted my readings.”

 _What? Here? But that’s…_ “Where is it?” Nyota asked, shoving her confusion aside.

“It is coming from a short distance east of you. Readings are too distorted to determine if it is from a living Novakid at this point, though I am picking up some life signs around it.”

“Here, what’s this about Novakid?” Lumen asked, leaning forward.

“Back at the academy, one of my closest friends was a Novakid,” Nyota explained. “He went missing just a few minutes before graduation, just before… well, you saw what happened.” She closed her eyes for a moment, shoving the memory back down before it could bite. She didn’t want to relive that now. She’d pushed it back for too long. “I’d asked SAIL to help me find him by scanning for the metals in his brand, but we never had time to look,” she added, more quietly. “His name was Isobu.”

Lumen hummed thoughtfully, his color dimming to a soft beige. “Isobu, huh… Sounds almost familiar, but I can’t place it. Then again, Novas ain’t known for our memories. Do ya think he could’ve gotten outta there, like you did?”

“I don’t know,” the Apex murmured, not daring to hope, “but I intend to find out.” _But even if you did survive… Isobu, how did you get here?_

_-_

“Lumen?” Nyota stopped just in front of a massive sealed bulkhead and turned back to shoot him a curious glance. “Is something wrong?”

The Novakid shrugged, but it wasn’t the casual sort of shrug. His hands were trembling. “I don’t rightly know, Captain, but for the past couple of minutes I’ve been getting’ this awful feelin’. Maybe it’s the silence down here. We haven’t run into anythin’ since SAIL told ya about the funny metal signal ahead. I just can’t shake the feelin’ that somethin’ really scary’s waitin’ for us.”

“You may be right,” Nyota whispered as she opened the last metal door. There was a low black door ahead. “I’ve seen doors like this before, in the mining colony and the hunting grounds… They always hide monsters.”

It wasn’t a monster inside. It was a woman.


	22. Fury

The woman looked up as Nyota entered the room. “Huh… Are you Esther’s puppet? So she’s gathering underlings again.” She dressed in purple robes like the cultists earlier, but the katana in her hand was far finer quality than any of the weapons they had wielded.

Nyota could tell just from her stance that this woman’s scornful tone wasn’t just arrogance talking; it made the fur bristle along her shoulders. It had been a long time since she last met anyone who so blatantly radiated skill and power. “How do you know Esther?” she asked. The answer didn’t matter; she needed more time to study this person, get a feel for her. It was like trying to read solid steel.

The woman shot her a look loaded with bitter amusement. “Oh, she didn’t tell you? Typical Esther. I pity you, in a way. Having your strings pulled by that withered hag…” Her stance shifted slightly as she caught sight of Lumen. “What? Another one?”

 _Another…?_ Nyota was taken aback by the sudden ferocity in the woman’s eyes as she stared at Lumen.

Then, as soon as it appeared, the expression vanished. “Oh, you’re no threat. You’re not even half the warrior the other one was,” she said, almost lazily, turning her gaze back on Nyota.

“Miss Nyota,” SAIL whispered, switching the earpiece off speaker mode as it spoke, “the sodium alloy signature seems to be coming from this woman.”

The Apex tightened her grip on her sword. “What do you mean, _the other one?_ ”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “I don’t owe you any answers. But since you asked so _nicely_ …” She pulled out a piece of metal, dark and scorched, a long wire twisted into the shape of a sun. Or at least, it had been once. A single cut split its rim.

Lumen made a strangled noise. “A brand…”

The woman ignored him. She had her stare locked on Nyota, on the recognition and rising turmoil in the Apex’s eyes. “You know this, do you? It belonged to a yellow star-brat.”

 _Isobu…_ “Where did you get that?” Nyota’s voice shook.

“Where else? I killed its owner.” There was pleasure in the woman’s voice now as she watched the Apex, as she saw Nyota's hands clench and her eyes go cold and blank as stone. “He got in my way, same as you’re doing now. You know you’re in way over your head, don’t you? You can’t stop this, just like he couldn’t save your Earth.”

_The explosion. Right before the Ruin attacked. Akemi saw him follow someone. A woman. This woman. Isobu._

A hand touched her shoulder. “Captain…” Lumen murmured. Nyota ignored him. She could barely even hear him.

Silver flickered through her blurred vision and Nyota instinctively grabbed it. The brand. She stared at it. It was so cold. Isobu was never cold.

“You can have it for now. I’ll be taking it back from your corpse soon enough,” the woman said. Her sword gleamed. “And then… Nevermind. Time to die!”

Nyota shoved Lumen out of harm’s way, ducking as glowing steel hissed through where her neck had been. Her own sword had no effect. Light flared between them, deflecting her slash. She snarled in frustration, then jumped back as the woman flung shards of energy at her. The explosion singed her leg; she smelled burning fur, but didn’t feel the pain. _Don’t feel. Don’t think. Kill._

It was strange, the clarity that hatred brought. She’d been holding back, hadn’t she? Gotten weak, gotten soft. In the old days, something like this wouldn’t even sting. How many had she lost? How many had she killed? It didn’t matter, not right now. Time to repent later. Time to grieve later. Live in the moment. Die in the moment.

Nyota slid out of the way of the woman’s swings with practiced ease, though less gracefully than she might have once upon a time. Her body was doing the thinking now. The woman was fast, much faster than she used to deal with, and Nyota was out of practice. But her foe was wild. There would be an opening… The burns on her leg caught as she twisted away from another slash, earning her a deep stripe down her left arm. _That could have gone better._

Rapid gunfire drove the cultist back for a moment. Nyota scrambled clear of retaliation, falling in beside Lumen. “Steady, Captain! I know yer mad, but this maverick’s a tough nut to crack. Let me help you.” The Novakid tossed her a red stimpak, then resumed fire, keeping the cultist distracted.

 _That’s right,_ Nyota realized as she injected the regenerative fluid, _I’m not on my own this time. Use your resources._

“Hey, my shots ain’t getting’ through! What’s that light thing?” Lumen ducked back behind a bit of bookshelf debris as the woman returned fire with more glowing knives.

“Her shield feeds off her energy,” Nyota said, catching her breath. It hurt, dragging her thoughts back out of the murk. She didn't want to think. Thought brought emotion. She couldn't afford to feel. “It's old Protectorate gear, unstable.” _Probably stolen when she killed Isobu._ “Make her lose control.” _Like I did._

“If ya say so…” The Novakid pulled a small bottle out of his pocket and threw it, hard. The woman didn’t even bother dodging, letting it smash against the shield. It exploded. The shield blocked the burst, but not the smoke that followed. They could hear her cursing and coughing violently.

_I’m not going to ask why he had that._

Something shot out of the cloud. Both of them dove for cover as it curved towards them, bouncing off the floor and ricocheting high into the air. They saw something violet and round for just an instant before it hurtled toward them again.

“What the blue blazes?!” Lumin sprinted out of the way, too slow and he knew it. His brand glowed white-hot as he shoved a massive book-case between himself and that thing. No good.

Nyota heard his grunt of pain and saw wood-shards fly. The violet orb tumbled away and morphed back into the cultist, panting for breath. _Finally! …but Lumen…?_ Relief flickered through Nyota as she spotted orange light moving in the wreckage of the shelf. He’d be fine. She couldn’t waste this chance.

The woman screamed in pain and fury as Nyota’s sword bit deep. Before the Apex could strike again, she recharged the shield and kicked Nyota back, warping to the far wall. Her hands glowed.

Instinct scramed at Nyota to climb. She scrambled onto one of the surviving shelves as a ray of searing light burst from the woman’s hands, incinerating what was left of the broken shelf and searing through the walls. Lumen, still dazed, was nearly caught in its full fury. His captain grabbed his hand as he tried to evade, hauling him up onto the shelf. The Novakid slumped beside her, his light flickering and weak.

“Lumen, speak to me. Are you alright?” Nyota asked. It was a stupid question. Of course he wasn’t. The blunt force of the ricocheting ball hadn’t broken his ‘skin’, but the laser had. Nyota tried not to flinch as scalding gas singed her hands. _Please be alive._

Lumen groaned, then pushed her away as he sat up. “I’ll see to myself, Captain,” he muttered. “You kill that she-devil.”

“Right.” A direct order. Never mind that she was captain. She could work with this.

When the woman switched back to her sword, Nyota was ready. She activated her Dash tech, blinking through the slash, and jumped over the exploding shards that followed. _Think. Act. Predict._ She raised her sword as the woman charged her again, locking blades. Nyota yielded a half step, then slid aside just as her foe tried to overpower her. A hard kick knocked her straight into the brass globe.

The woman glowed briefly as she sprawled past, then compressed into the orb form again. She was angry now, her strikes erratic. Nyota ducked and dodged as well as she could, trying to block what she couldn’t avoid. A sharp blow knocked the wind out of her. Four quick shots forced her enemy back before she could strike home.

The ball crashed into the top of the second shelf, forming back into the battered shape of the cultist again as Nyota scrambled to her feet, pulling out her staff. Her bruised limbs protested at the thought of climbing up after their foe. But she and Lumin wouldn’t survive another round like this. _I won’t let her kill another friend. I still have options._ She poured all she could into the staff and let it fly.

The woman dropped to her knees as electricity coursed through her limbs. Her sword slipped from her numbed hands, its glowing blade slicing into the shelf. “I guess I underestimated you…” she panted, a bitter smile twisting her gaunt face. “So you win this time. ‘Woe is me.’ But it’s too late to stop what’s happening. Let Esther know—there is no hope.”

Before Nyota could react, she vanished.


	23. After the Battle

The wall shook; the last few standing books fell over. Lumen kept silent as Nyota slowly lowered her arm. There was a deep imprint in the wall now, outlining an Apex fist. His captain exhaled slowly. Her shoulders shook, but she didn’t say a word. After a few long, awful seconds, Lumen dragged himself to his feet and walked over to her. He touched her arm, felt her flinch. She turned her eyes on him.

Eyes were always funny thing to the Novakid. It had taken him years, decades, to learn how to read them. So much emotion the organic folk could pack into that little space. But there was no emotion in his captain’s eyes. Nyota’s stare was dark and empty, an aching void. But the void couldn’t hide everything. He knew what he would see if he looked deeper. Burning hate. Drowning grief. Little tears that glittered like stars.

Lumen held out the sun-shaped brand. It had fallen next to him when Nyota got him away from the laser fire. “Here, Captain. I think this belongs to you.”

Nyota took it, mechanically. “It belonged to Isobu,” she said. Her voice sounded thick and strange.

“An’ I bet he’d’ve wanted ya to have it,” Lumen told her. “Closest to the dead gets to keep their brand. After that…” He shrugged. There wasn’t much else he could do. “Guess it’s up to whatever ya think is best. He ain’t in there anymore.”

“I know. I… knew, I think.” Nyota looked up at the ceiling with a quiet sigh. “I knew before I left Earth… but knowing, and having proof, knowing _who_ …” The hate surfaced in her voice again, just for a moment. She looked back down at Lumen. “We need to get you home.” And just like that, her eyes were back to the same as ever, calm and steady, just a little more distant than before.

Lumen chuckled and tried to smile, but couldn’t find enough energy to brighten his glow. “Guess I look a right mess, eh? Oh…” The world spun and he found himself a good ways down the wall before Nyota caught him.

Nyota handed him the last bit of food she’d brought. “If you wish to return home after this, I understand,” she offered quietly as he ate. “We’ve made a powerful enemy, and it will only get worse from here.”

Lumen shook his head. “Don’t even offer it, Captain,” he said. “I swore I wouldn’t run. I ain’t gonna run now.” He stood up, brushing a few splinters off his sleeves. “If this is too much, I just gotta get tougher, right? Anyhow, we oughta find ol’ fishfins. Bet he’s worried sick.” This time he managed a warm glowing ‘smile’.

“Right. Let’s see if I can’t get the door open.”

“Grab that she-devil’s sword before ya do. It’s a fine blade. Ain’t never seen anythin’ like it, and I’ve seen a lot of fancy slicers.”

Nyota climbed up onto the shelf, moving just a bit stiffer than usual, and wrenched the cultist’s sword free. As she swung it, the blade shone bright gold, like a young sun. “Solarium…” she breathed. It _was_ a fine weapon.

Her earpiece hummed to life as she overrode the lock in the door. “Nyota, Lumen? Are you two alright?” It was Esther’s voice. “I couldn’t reach you for some reason. Please, answer me.”

Nyota tapped the speaker button. “We’re here, Esther. A bit roughed up, but we’ll live. I have a message for you.” She activated the replay feature and the cultist’s voice sounded from the little device, repeating her last threats.

Esther was silent for a long moment. “That woman…” she whispered at last. “Her voice… Could it be, after all this time?”

“So you do know her?”

“I… Come back to the Ark, please. I need to gather my thoughts.” The old woman sounded shaken.

Lumen made a quiet static sound. “Wonder what that was all about.”

-

A lanky blue Hylotl grinned and waved enthusiastically at Nyota and Lumen as they opened the final hatch to the heart of the Library, almost knocking his glasses off. “You’re here!” he exclaimed, adjusting the frames. “You made it! You defeated those cowled villains!”

“Yes, we did,” Nyota said, trying not to stare. She was by no means tall by Apex standards, but she’d never met a non-Apex that towered over her quite like this fellow. “I take it you are Koichi? It’s a pleasure to meet you at last.” She couldn’t remember if Hylotl shared the handshake custom with humans, and at this point she was too worn out to care.

“Likewise,” Koichi said. “And you would be…”

“My name is Nyota Saimiri. This is my friend and crewmate Lumen.”

Koichi’s third eye blinked. “Oh… are you two quite alright? You look like you’ve been through the wringer and back again. What _did_ you come here for, anyway? I find it somewhat hard to believe an Apex and… a Novakid, I think? Hm. Well, I can’t think of anything that would bring a diverse pair such as yourselves to an old library. It _is_ a grand library indeed, but the other space-faring races are usually sadly disinterested in Hylotl history…”

 _May as well tell the truth._ “We were looking for an old relic,” Nyota explained. “I gather it’s the same one those thugs were hunting for. Do you know where it is?”

Koichi adjusted his glasses, looking thoughtful. “So you’re here for this artifact too? How intriguing… Here, it’s this way.”

The tall Hylotl led the way up a short flight of stairs, past a pair of bookcases that looked considerably better preserved than anything else in the library so far. It was harder to avoid staring as he moved.

“Like a great big stork, he is,” Lumen whispered. “How’s he stay upright?”

“Shhhh,” Nyota hissed.

“Here we are,” Koichi said proudly as he stopped in front of the pedestal, apparently oblivious to the Novakid’s remarks. “The most ancient of Hylotl heirlooms, to the best of my knowledge. After all that’s happened today, I think it’s best to entrust it to you—a reward for your decency. It’s certainly not safe here,” he added, a bit of a grumble entering his voice.

Nyota gave him a tired but immensely grateful smile. “Thank you very much, Koichi. I’ll do my best to look after it.”

“I’m glad I could help,” the Hylotl replied. “But, um… May I come with you? This object, the artifact—I would love to know more.”

The Apex nodded. “I can’t see any harm in it. Well, unless you’re afraid of Florans… but Nuru probably won’t try to eat you. And I’m sure Esther will appreciate the assistance. Do you have a teleporter nearby?”

“Why, yes! I was just finishing repairing it.” Koichi beamed happily, then led them down the other side of the steps. He was too excited to wait for the other two as he stepped into the portal, muttering happily to himself. Nyota caught the phrase, “I am going to become SO WISE!” a split second before he vanished.

Lumen started laughing. “What a funny fish we’ve landed, eh?”

Nyota couldn’t help joining in. She wasn’t quite sure why she was laughing, just that it felt better than not. “You really shouldn’t say that. You might offend him.”

“It’s true, though. Hey… Captain?”

“Yes?” Nyota rubbed her eyes to clear the strange feeling away.

The Novakid looked away. “Eh, it’s nothin’. Let’s get goin’.”


	24. Namina

Esther was waiting for them when they returned to the Ark. “I am so very glad to see you two are safe,” she said as Nyota climbed up the steps. Lumen stayed at the bottom, enjoying the heat of Nuru’s campfire.

“Hello again, Esther. Did you meet Koichi already?” Nyota asked.

The old woman grinned. “Yes, he’s quite a nice boy, isn’t he? Certainly didn’t waste any time getting set up here. Another scholar will certainly be a great help. But first things first, dear. Well done for saving the artifact. Koichi told me all about your bravery. They’re powerful objects, and not safe in the wrong hands…”

“Like that woman I fought,” Nyota said.

Esther froze mid-congratulations. “What? You fought her?” She looked down at the sword in Nyota’s hand, then back up at the Apex’s dark eyes. “Oh. Oh my. …She got away?”

Nyota’s eyes narrowed as a bit of fury slipped through the mask. “She did. But we will meet again.” Her grip on the sword hilt tightened, turning her knuckles white. “She needs to answer for what she’s done.”

“Yes,” Esther murmured. “Yes, I suppose she does.” She looked thoughtful, and more than a little sad. “But that will wait for another day,” she said at last, her expression brightening a bit. “Show me the Relic!”

Nyota rummaged in her pocket and produced the strange blue disk. As with the carved bone, as soon as it was free of her grip it vanished, this time in a burst of sapphire radiance. The light was echoed moments later by the door, its lowest slot now filled. Just the sight of it made a bit of weariness fall away.

“Golly, that’s somethin’ else,” Lumen remarked as he caught up. He was looking quite a bit brighter now, though still nowhere near his normal glow.

The Apex nodded absently. Her mind was on other things. More out of habit than anything else, she found herself asking, “What do you have in mind next, Esther?”

“You mean before you two keel over, or after?” the old woman scolded. “Get some rest!”

Lumen laughed, and Nyota found herself smiling again. “Oh, alright,” the Apex conceded. “But after that. May as well make some plans while we mend, right?”

Esther shook her head with a sigh. “I have half a mind to have your SAIL put you two on ship arrest to make sure you don’t go wandering off. Don’t give me that look. I was just as reckless at your age.”

“I’m a little bit older and wiser than I might look, Esther,” Nyota said patiently. “But knowledge is half the battle.”

“If you insist… Avians next, I think,” Esther said. “Probably best to go to planets where jungle terrain is in abundance—Avians like to inhabit such places. You’ll find those kinds of planets around radioactive stars, so do make sure you update your EPP to handle it. Be careful.”

-

“Psst! Hey, Champ!”

“Nuru?” Nyota smiled and walked over to the colorful Floran. “I wanted to thank you for your encouragement earlier. How have you been?”

Nuru grinned toothily at her. “I really like it here!” she declared. “Esther is teaching me sso much about things. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. One of my friends from a few Hunts ago was looking for a job, and I bet you could use an extra hand now that things are getting rough, right?”

“If you vouch for them, I’d be happy to take them on,” Nyota said. “You seem to be a good judge of character, and we could certainly use another friend if the going gets rough.”

“Glad you agreed,” Nuru said happily, “because he’s already on your ship.”

The Apex blinked, sighed, and thanked Nuru for her help.

“These Floran certainly don’t waste time, do they?” Lumen asked as they climbed the steps to the teleporter.

“You’d think I’d be used to how they work by now…” Nyota muttered. “SAIL, kindly make sure that this mystery Floran hasn’t gotten any ideas about ambushes before we get back.”

“Already taken care of, Miss Nyota,” SAIL said, a touch smugly. “The unknown individual is currently locked in the cockpit, and I have temporarily disabled navigations.”

“Good. We’ll be right up.”

Something small and plastic clattered underfoot as Nyota stepped off the ship’s teleporter pad. Curious, she picked it up. It looked a bit like her old ID card from the Academy, but instead of Protector it had Licence inscribed on it, with a smaller Class I below her picture. “SAIL? What is this?”

“Since you seem to have recruited two crewmates, Protectorate regulations deem you ready for your Sparrow Class ship license,” SAIL informed her. “If my information is correct, the rather shady individual who repaired the FTL drive can also upgrade and enlarge your ship if you provide him with a few upgrade modules.”

“Interesting…” Nyota pocketed the card. “That can be dealt with later. You can turn the Floran loose now.”

The cockpit door clicked open and an extremely green Floran wandered out. He wore a red Protectorate uniform, probably from the ship locker, and seemed just a bit nervous. “Yesss? Floran wantss to work for Nuru’s friend,” he said. “Which one is friend?”

“That would be me,” Nyota said. “My name is Nyota Saimiri. I’m the captain of this ship.”

The Floran gave her what was probably intended as a disarming smile, which made Lumen swear and put a hand on his gun. “Floran is Namina. Pleasssure to meat you! Floran is very good with guns and ssswords. Almost beat Nuru a few Huntsss back.”

Nyota studied him, thoughtful. “Did you? That is impressive. Very well then. SAIL, update the crew log to include Namina as soldier-class. Consider yourself on a trial period for now, crewmate Namina. You will take orders from myself or First Mate Lumen.”

The Floran snapped off an impressively sharp salute. “Yes Ma’am!”

Nyota looked around, running a few mental calculations. “I suppose I can’t just rely on finding random beds while exploring anymore,” she murmured, “but there’s no way we’ll fit three bunks in this little thing. Lumen, Namina, you can get acquainted while I’m gone.”

“Where’re ya off to, Captain?” Lumen asked.

“I need to have a word with Penguin Pete.”

-

“This is pretty cozy!” Lumen said happily as he helped Nyota anchor the last bunk in place. “Ya even got a card table. Feels a lot more homey now.”

Namina didn’t have much to say, but he certainly seemed to enjoy the soft blankets in his bunk. He muttered a vague “ _Floran pleasssed”_ before burrowing deeper. Weasel scrambled out from under the table and ran for the cockpit as the Floran started snoring.

Lumen laughed. “Big sneaky hunter he is, scarin’ the wildlife,” he joked.  “But he’s a nice enough sort, far as I could gather. Now then, Captain.” His tone became serious again. “We got a nice place t’rest now so I’d be much obliged if ya’d let me do my job as medic. Ya do a good job hidin’ it, but ya’ve been favorin’ yer right leg since we got back, and yer wrist’s showin’ real stiff after that work.”

Nyota still had work to do, and said as much, but Lumen wasn’t inclined to take no for an answer. Realizing that arguing it would be futile, Nyota sat patiently as the Novakid applied salve to her bruises and cleaned the cuts the cultists had given her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d let someone else look after her. His hands were soothingly warm, as smooth as glass.

Lumen had nearly finished when he realized that his captain had fallen asleep.


	25. Solitude and Solidarity

Nyota woke up in a nest of blankets on the bottom bunk with absolutely no memory of how she got there. Last she remembered, Lumen was commenting about some of her more recent scars… She must have dozed off.

With a sigh, the Apex got up, remembering to duck so she didn’t crack her head on the bunk above her. Namina was still asleep and she could barely make out Lumen’s faint glow from the highest bed. Moving as quietly as possible, she pulled her armor on and headed over to the teleporter.

“SAIL,” she whispered, “let me know if they show signs of waking. I don’t want to worry them.”

“As you wish,” SAIL replied, “but where are you going?”

“Mimosa. I have work to do.”

It was well past midnight on the quiet little garden planet, which suited Nyota nicely. The strongest monsters came out after dark. She closed her eyes, listening to the breeze, and started to call up her oldest memories one by one. Block. Twist. Thrust. Slash.

_“Focus!”_

_A sharp sting across her ear. She bit her lip, but said nothing. No weakness._

_“Better. Try again.”_

_The calluses on her hands bled, but she obeyed, moving as if to lock swords with her mentor. At the last second, she let him slide past, tapping him lightly with her sword. No harder. Obey regulations._

_“Good. Again.”_

_She preferred spears. They made up for her youth, her lack of height. She didn’t like letting the enemy get close. But she had to learn them all. She had to be ready._

_“Once more.”_

Younger memories trickled in.

_“So where’d ya learn t’fight like that, anyhow?”_

_“Back home.” A horizontal sweep reduces the practice hologram to pixels. “It was expected of me.”_

_A few seconds of silence. “I ain’t ever seen anyone fight like ya. It’s like watchin’ a machine.”_

_“Is that an observation or a compliment?” Neither of them had ever had much in the way of social graces. That might have been why they gravitated toward each other. One reason, at least._

_“I dunno. You tell me.” Another silence. “Say, Nyota… ya ain’t havin’ much fun there, are ya?”_

_She pauses. “I do not see what fun has to do with combat.”_

_Fizzing. Laughter? “No fun to it? Now I don’t know much about you Apex, but why do_ anythin’ _if ya don’t enjoy it?”_

_“We fought to kill, Isobu. That’s all there was to it.” A short rattling, then an old practice staff pressed into her hand. “Isobu, what…”_

_“Come on. Swing at me.”_

_“Stop playing around.” She tries to disarm him. Astonishment as he blocks with ease._

_“No dice, hotshot. Put some heart into it.”_

_Irritation. He_ is _laughing at her. “Go away. I don’t want to hurt you.”_

_“That’s why I picked blunt stuff. Can’t hurt us much with these.” He taps his wooden sword against his head, proving a point. “Think of it as a game. Paste-the-Novakid. Catchy, right?” A nasty tingle in her elbow as he gives it a rap._

_“Ach! You little…”_

_“That’s it, that’s it!” He dodges the swing, blocks the follow-up, but misses her leg sweeping under his. “Oof!” Laughter again, but not mocking. It was never mocking._

_She taps his face. “Out.” Somehow she’s smiling too._

_“Two of three?”_

The post she’d been practicing on was splinters now and tears rolled freely down her cheeks, but Nyota didn’t care. Weakness didn’t matter now. There was no one to see her cry. She moved to a different stump and took her stance again.

**

SAIL turned her earpiece on just as dawn was starting to break on the horizon. “Miss Nyota, your crewmates are waking. Beaming up…”

Nyota brushed a bit of dew off her fur as she stepped off the teleporter. Lumen had just climbed out of bed from the look of things. He stretched, making a tinny humming sound almost identical to a yawn. “Mornin’, Captain,” he said, his voice slightly slurred as his light slowly brightened up from hibernation mode. “If it is mornin’… Kinda hard to tell out here in space, ain’t it?”

“You get used to it eventually,” Nyota said, passing him some breakfast.

Lumen quite literally lit up. “Hey! Are those corn fritters? I haven’t had these in ages!” It was rather odd to see the food dissolve into his plasma. “Fern-fangs, you awake over there?” he added, looking back over at the bunks. _Don’t talk with your mouth full_ meant absolutely nothing to a Novakid.

Namina mumbled incoherently, then sat up as he smelled breakfast. “Floran want meats?” he said hopefully. Nyota handed out seconds and showed her crewmates where spare rations were stored. After a bit of a debate that almost became a scuffle over the last piece of bacon, the little crew settled down to enjoy their meal. Weasel snuffled over and started begging pieces of fritter from Lumen.

“Cute little varmint, ain’t ya…” the Novakid crooned, offering it a bite. Weasel made a snatch for the whole thing. Lumen jerked his hand back. “Hey! Thievin’ little varmint! Captain, yer pet’s got no manners. …oh fine. Ya can have half.” He split the fritter and handed it to the begging rodent. “Now get along, you.”

The Apex smiled, taking a sip of her coffee. This really did feel like home, more so than her real home ever had. It felt like the Protectorate again.

“If ya don’t mind my askin’, Captain,” Lumen said, “where’ve ya been? Ya smell like grass, and there ain’t any grass in space. …anybody home?”

“Hm? Oh, just… remembering.” Nyota laughed softly. “I seem to be doing that a lot lately.”

“Yer avoidin’ the question.”

Nyota finished her coffee and stowed the mug to be cleaned later. “I was dealing with some things that needed dealt with.”

The Novakid sighed. “I swear, between you and Sonny I’m the only one with the sense to rest when I’m tuckered out… Okay, no I really ain’t,” he added, seeing Nyota’s incredulous look, “but I’m a touch better at it than the pair of ya.”

“For what it’s worth, I mend quickly. One of the little benefits of VEP.”

Lumen hummed. “I ain’t never heard that one before, but I’ll take yer word for it. So, Captain, what’s the plan today?”

“Floran come for adventuresss?” Both Novakid and Apex jumped, Lumen making a sound like a haywire radio.

“Stars, Fern-fangs! Ya scared me!”

Namina grinned cheekily. “Floran did warn, good at sssneaking,” he said.

“That you are,” Nyota agreed, very glad that she’d put her mug down before the Floran happened. “We need better gear before anything else. That last fight in the Library was more than my armor could handle, and we need to get both of you some gear.”

“Ssshiny armors?” Namina looked quite pleased about this idea. “Bessst Floran crafters use durasssteel, very sssturdy and light.”

“Durasteel?” Nyota asked. “I’ve never worked with it before.” _Just iron and tungsten were difficult enough…_

Namina laughed. “Need to find it firssst. How doesss ship move?”

Nyota showed him the cockpit, and watched in fascination as the Floran got in a long debate with SAIL before finally selecting a decently close world. He pointed at the durasteel icon in the geological readings, beaming.

“Well done, Namina,” Nyota murmured. “I will have to thank Nuru for recommending you when I see her next.”

“Yer mighty clever, Fern-fangs,” Lumen said, looking closer at the map. “Don’t much like the sound of ‘severely mutated,’ but it’s got the ores alright. Ouch.” The Floran had playfully punched his shoulder.

“Floran is sssmart! Not know how to work ssship, but knowsss rocks well,” Namina hissed proudly.

Nyota took her place in the captain’s chair. “I suggest you two find a place to sit or something to hold onto,” she said. “SAIL, warm up the FTL drive.” _Isn’t this familiar?_ she thought with a fond smile as Namina and Lumen headed for the back of the ship. _Hm. I’ll have to find chairs for them up here._


	26. Marsic Legion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 150 hits? Many thanks to everyone who's been reading this! Today's chapter will be a bit longer than usual.

Namina made a face as he materialized on the new planet. “Air smellsss weird,” he complained, rubbing at his nose.

“Dunno about odd smells, but the sun sure feels funny,” Lumen remarked. “I ain’t never felt one so lively. It kinda tingles.”

“That would be the radiation,” Nyota said, making sure her EPP was activated. “It shouldn’t be strong enough to get through your EPP units, but make sure you keep them on while you’re down here. What a strange world this is,” she added, looking around. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen trees in that color.” Tall trunks of striped violet and blue rose around them, their branches laden with odd, pear-shaped fruits.

“Hey! Alien fruit!” Lumen exclaimed, snagging one off a lower branch. “Ya oughta grab a bunch, Captain. Eat them and ya float!”

Nyota laughed quietly. “Duly noted, Lumen. I’ll have to try it later. We should explore a bit first. Durasteel will be more easy to find underground, but I’d rather not risk heading down where SAIL can’t call us back up until I’m sure we can handle what’s down there.”

“Weird smell comesss from the eassst,” Namina said, moving one hand away from his nose to point. “Floran is curiousss.”

The smell got strong enough that Nyota could pick it up easily within just a minute of walking. She wrinkled her nose; it was sickly sweet, the scent of decay, with a coppery undertone to it that reminded her of a careless butcher’s shop.

“Er, Captain?” Lumen said. “I… don’t think this stuff’s ground.”

Nyota looked down. Pale pink sludge covered the earth. Gingerly, she prodded it with her sword. It squelched. She activated the solarium infusion, burning a hole in the pink stuff. The stink of burnt flesh stung her eyes as the sludge burned away to reveal a mass that looked all too much like meat.

“The ground is meatsss! Nasssty meats,” Namina exclaimed, standing on one foot and then the other in an effort to keep from sinking into the awful stuff.

Lumen made a revolted rattling sound. “This stuff is _flesh?!_ ”

“Shhh, keep it down,” Nyota hissed, but she could already hear something shuffling through the squelching ground.

“Captain,” Lumen asked, his voice much quieter and deadly calm, “what is that thing?”

It stood nearly shoulder high, its body made of rippling red that horribly resembled the flesh-earth. Another creature poked its head over the next hill. Nyota backed away, pulling out her rifle. These, she remembered. She’d faced them before. “Hemogoblins. Kill them fast.”

Namina switched from freaked-out dancing to sword-wielding fury with impressive speed. Hemogoblins were infamous for their mindless behavior, but Nyota could have sworn she saw one flinch as the Floran charged it. The creature turned sideways so the Floran’s sword glanced off its rib-like exoskeleton, but Namina just recovered his balance, ignored its attempts to bash him down, and sheared through it. Nyota and Lumen brought down the other one.

“Huh. Easssy prey.” Namina poked the first one with his sword, then winced. “Bitesss hard.”

Lumen sighed. “That’s because ya were careless, Fern-fangs, just chargin’ in like that. Still, ya were mighty impressive. Come here and I’ll patch ya up.”

“No, not yet!” Nyota snapped, making them both jump. “Watch your back!”

“Eh?” Namina turned around just in time to be knocked flat as the front half of the first hemogoblin cannoned into him. A shot from Nyota’s rifle knocked the other one away before it could finish him off.

“Namina, get away from them!” she called, pulling a bottle out of her pocket. Namina obeyed, scrambling to his feet, too startled to protest. As soon as the Floran got out of the blast radius, she lobbed the bottle down at the reanimated hemogoblins. It exploded in a ball of fire, burning the damaged one to ash. The remaining three pieces made terrifying sounds of distress and hunger as they tried to jump up the hill after the Floran, completely ignoring the flames. Lumen hauled Namina up beside them, his brand glowing white, then started firing down at the beasts as rapidly as his pistol could handle. Nyota’s sword swatted the last one out of the air as it made one last desperate leap for them.

“Captain, are they dead?” Lumen’s voice shook.

“Yes.” Nyota watched the solarium infusion burn the ooze off her blade. “You have to kill hemogoblins twice. I’m sorry. I should have mentioned it sooner. I should have guessed flesh land was their native habitat.”

“Thossse are _natural?_ ” Namina hissed.

“Ya’ve seem them elsewhere?” Lumen asked at the same time.

Nyota held up a hand to stop further questions. “Yes and yes, but we should move on. Namina’s injuries need seen to, and it’s not safe to stop here.”

**

“Hold still, Fern-fangs. The less you squirm, the faster I’ll be,” Lumen said.

“Floran triess,” Namina said. “It ticklesss.”

“It will do worse than tickle if ya don’t let me fix it. Captain said the bites fester fast.” Lumen finished cleaning and applying salve to the bites and pulled out a roll of bandages. “Hope she gets back soon,” he muttered. “I’m gettin’ a mite nervous.” They'd been hiding in a little hut on the outskirts of some kind of skeleton-bandit camp for at least half an hour now. The Novakid couldn't help glancing uncertainly at the trap door every time he heard a distant shriek, but it had been eerily quiet for the past few minutes. He didn't know what was worse.

The trap door slid aside. There was a short clatter, followed by an Apex. “There. I think that’s the last of them. You two doing alright?”

“He’ll be right as rain soon enough,” Lumen said, patting Namina’s shoulder. “Yer all done, friend. How about on yer end, Captain? Them bone crazies give you any trouble?”

“More startle than trouble,” Nyota said, sitting down on a crate. “They make a lot of noise.”

“Floran is impresssssed Captain fought them by herssself,” Namina said, tugging his shirt back on and attempting to stretch. Lumen pushed his arm back down.

“Ya do that and yer gonna regret it. Hands below shoulders until that heals.”

“I did get some help,” the Apex admitted, leaning back to study the ceiling. “A wandering Hylotl happened by. He wouldn’t say where he was from, only that his name was Dartyota. I wonder where he learned to use a sword like that… Ah. That reminds me.” She stood up and drew her sword, giving it a flick to activate the solarium lights.

“Captain? Whatcha up to?”

“Dartyota did mention that bandit outposts like this one often have ores lying around. For repairs, I suppose… It certainly would not hurt to check. This is the nearest to a storage house I’ve seen.”

“Floran finds bonesss,” Namina said happily, snagging one to chew on later. “Also gadget thingy. Catch!”

“Where in the world did they find a manipulator module?” Nyota wondered out loud, slotting it into her manipulator. She’d actually found some durasteel, though nowhere near enough for anything useful yet. “Any luck, Lumen?”

“Yee-haw! Medi-kits!” Lumen exclaimed. “I like this ‘loot the looters’ game. These’re right fancy.”

After ensuring that the rest of the ramshackle camp didn’t hold anything else of interest (and adding a little more durasteel to Nyota’s growing collection), the three headed further east. Bone-strewn dirt turned into dry scrubland, dotted with the occasional scraggly bush. Compared to the hemogoblins, the few paratails that harassed them were child’s play to deal with. Namina proved to be almost as good with a rifle as he was with a sword after Nyota warned him about the balloon monsters’ explosive tendencies.

“I think Mother Nature had a bit too much of the ol’ moonshine when she made these varmints,” Lumen said as he sniped at one and watched it blow up.

“Remind me to never try Novakid moonshine. Hold up—stay quiet. There’s a light over there,” Nyota said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“Ain’t much good sneakin’ now. Even if they missed my shootin’, them paratails make an awful bang.”

“I know. Just trust me on this. You two stay here.” Nyota traded her sword for her pistol and dropped into a crouch, using the sparse foliage for cover as she crept closer. Namina grinned and dragged Lumen over behind a few rocks. He knew an ambush when he saw one.

A few minutes passed. “Where is she?” Lumen muttered.

Nyota was slightly confused. Light meant people, probably bandits. She should have been able to hear their voices by now. Something rustled up ahead and she froze, holding as still as possible as it got closer. It wasn’t a bandit. It was some sort of scarlet fox. Nyota smiled. Fennix. This was better than bandits. She quietly stowed her dagger, then pulled out a small sphere she’d found back in the mining complex. Now was as good a time as any to try it out.

-

Namina was slightly disappointed that he didn’t get to ambush anyone, but very curious when Nyota showed him the capture pod. The curiosity turned into fear when she let the Fennix out. “Why? Fox that ssspits fire!”

“Relax, Namina, it listens to me well enough not to spit fire at you,” Nyota reassured him.

“Even if it didn’t, hidin’ behind me ain’t gonna do ya any good,” Lumen said. “I ain’t never gotten close enough to pet one like this. It’s a right special thing.” Nyota could hear the smile in his voice as he ruffled the Fennix’s fur.

Nyota recalled the Fennix to give Namina a little peace of mind, then took the lead again. It didn’t take long to reach the end of the arid hills. Strangely normal trees loomed around them, a far cry from the twisted, striped vegetation they’d encountered earlier. Namina sniffed the air. “Jungle is nice,” he said, stretching comfortably. “Floran smellsss sssweets ahead.”

“Sweets as in tasty monsters?” Nyota asked, half-teasing, remembering Floran tastes.

Namina shook his head. “Sweet as in plantsss. There! …Bah. Not enough lightsss.” He poked Lumen in the side. “More lightsss?”

Lumen obligingly glowed a bit brighter, though he grumbled a bit about tickling and not being a flashlight. “Hey, a cocoa bush,” he said a moment later, picking a bean. “Sure smells good.”

“Cocoa?” Nyota managed to stifle most of the excitement in her voice, but her eyes still glittered with pleasure. Chocolate was one of the best things she’d been introduced to after joining the Protectorate. She quickly snagged a few pods, scanning one with the Matter Manipulator.

“What isss Captain doing?” Namina asked, leaning over her shoulder.

“Getting seeds,” Nyota told him, stowing her treasures. “I can plant these at my base. Ah, I haven’t showed it to either of you yet, have I? Hm… SAIL, how close are we to where we arrived?”

“If you walk for another ten minutes, you will reach the arrival site,” SAIL reported. “I doubt you will find much more ore on the surface at this point.”

“Is that so… In that case, would you two like to see what passes for my base? I’ve got enough ore to make _something,_ at least.”

A minute later, Nyota stepped out of the teleporter booth, swatted a night flyer as it went for her head, and turned to smile almost nervously at Lumen and Namina. “Well? What do you think? It’s not much, but it’s home.” She gestured at a low covered bridge that occupied the hilltop, its underside lit by the faint glow of healing spring beneath. Just beyond were row after row of plants, all carefully tended, some even starting to bloom.

If Lumen had had a face, his jaw would have dropped. As it was, he quietly fizzled with wonder until he found his voice again. “Not much? Captain, if ya think this is ‘not much’ then ya oughta have yer head examined. Did ya do all this yerself?”

“No, the covered bridge was already here," Nyota explained. "I just filled the gaps with glass to keep the draft out, and added the gardens. There’s also a healing spring about half a day east of here, so I brought some of the water back.”

“Still, that’s…”

“Floran likesss!” Namina declared. He immediately opened the door and started exploring the bridge-house.

Nyota tried to hide her smile as Lumen gaped at the one west side garden and the three layered garden plots built off the eastern edge of the hill. It really hadn’t felt like much at the time. She’d just built because it gave her something to do. She left Lumen staring and went to go find an unoccupied bit of tilled soil for her newest prize. Chocolate again, at last! She hadn’t had chocolate since the incident at the Erchius mine.

“So, did ya find enough ore?” Lumen asked when she came back.

“I think so,” Nyota replied, checking her collection. “Yes, with this much I ought to be able to upgrade my tools and maybe even forge new gear. Where’s Namina? I need his advice.”

Lumen gestured at the little house. Faint snores drifted through the door. “Catchin’ a dimmer. We oughta follow suit when yer done with the upgradin’. It’s been a long day.”

“I still have to—”

“Ya can’t make yer armor without him helpin’ ya,” Lumen interrupted. “Go sleep, Captain. Ya didn’t get much last night, and yer still mendin’, right?”

“Which of us is Captain here?” Nyota asked, but she was smiling as she said it. “Alright, if it makes you stop fretting.”

Lumin chuckled. “I always fret. But I’ll stop badgerin’ ya. Yer a big girl and ya can look after yer self, even if ya don’t like acceptin’ yer own limits.”

Nyota watched in thoughtful silence as the Novakid headed inside to find a spare sleeping bag, wondering what kind of life he had lived that let him read her so well.


	27. The Miniknog Town

"Captain needsss practice, but good for a beginner,” Namina said as Nyota tried her armor on. It had taken a bit longer than she’d hoped to get it just right, but the final result was both sturdy and comfortable. Small wonder the Floran were fond of durasteel.

“Beats me why ya’d want the sort that fits under yer clothes,” Lumen remarked, studying the result as the Apex made sure everything was adjusted right. “All the scariest banditos and sheriffs wear great bulky stuff to show how tough they are.”

“Call it force of habit,” Nyota said. “And odds are we will find settlers out there. I’d prefer to not scare them off by looking like one of your ‘banditos’.” She carefully tucked her flower back into her hair. She just didn’t feel right without it.

-

The surface of the outermost planet in the little Marsic Legion system was very like the one they had previously explored, but the inhabitants certainly weren’t. Just a few minutes after arrival, the trio was fighting for their lives against a quartet of armored knights.

“What the hey are they?” Lumen asked, ducking as one’s sword hissed through where his neck had been. His brand glowed briefly and he spun fast and hard, knocking the knight’s legs out from under him and sending his foe tumbling into the spike-filled pit. “Pfeh. Serves ya right.”

Nyota disarmed another knight, then finished her off when she tried fighting bare-handed. “I’ve heard stories. They call themselves All-Seeing Knights. We called them nuisances.”

“Lessss talk, more sshoot!”

After Namina dealt with the last two knights, the empty tower made for a decent campsite to rest and have a little breakfast. Lumen produced an old harmonica from a hidden pocket and played a few tunes to pass the time. Nyota listened, eyes half-shut with pleasure, and decided not to ruin the effect by asking how on earth a Novakid could play an instrument like that.

“Floran likesss hummy music,” Namina said as Lumen finished the third song.

“Aw, it’s nuthin’,” Lumen replied, though his face glowed a bit brighter. “Just somethin’ I picked up a couple decades back. Used t’play the piano in my bar when drinkin’ got slow. What about the pair of ya, though? Heard Florans and Apex are great drummers.”

“Floran besst drummerss in entire universse!” Namina declared. He smirked cockily at the other two as if daring them to say otherwise.

Nyota laughed. “I can’t argue with that. A friend of mine was very skilled on the drums. Apex are fond of percussion, but I could never quite come close to matching him.”

-

Midmorning brought a drastic change of scenery. Blue rock faded into sunbaked dirt and the spiraling trees withered into low scrub. “Another grassland,” Lumen said thoughtfully. “Wonder if there’s anyone out here.”

“SAIL is picking up signs of sentient life,” Nyota told him, checking her Matter Manipulator.

“Not again,” Namina moaned. “Floran doesssn’t like bone men.”

“It’s not bone men," Lumen told him, humming thoughtfully. "This planet sure is full of surprises. …Hey! Somethin’s attackin’ her!” The Novakid had his pistol out and fired off two shots before either of the others could even ask what was going on. Namina and Nyota quickly recovered their wits and helped finish off the giant spider-like monster Lumen had attacked as it rounded on them.

As soon as she was sure it was dead, Nyota walked over to the cowering humanoid. “Miss? It’s safe now. Are you alright?”

The stranger slowly uncurled from being a trembling ball. She blinked up at Nyota, fluffy ears twitching with interest, and stood up. “Not dead,” she said. She looked around, ears shifting to pick up any hint of threatening sound. “Danger over. Need rest!” Her eyes locked on the Apex again and she gave her a friendly smile, if a bit nervous. “Odd person. Saying hello. Not Fenerox?"

“It’s… a pleasure to meet you too?” Nyota’s usual efforts at intelligent conversation completely deserted her. She’d heard of Fenerox before, but meeting one outside of a textbook was quite different. She could feel the translator working overtime. “Will you be okay?”

The Fenerox shrugged. “Not dead,” she repeated. “Stranger helped? Very grateful.” She stood on her toes and ruffled Nyota’s cheek fur. Nyota tensed, but managed to avoid jerking back. The Fenerox quickly lowered her hands, though she continued to study the Apex. “Familiar face. Like neighbors. Smells better.”

It took a few moments for Nyota to process what the Fenerox had said. “There’s… others like me here,” she said slowly.

“Metal village,” the Fenerox confirmed. “Guards scary. All fearful.” She looked at her shadow, perhaps gauging the time, then started gathering up the plants she’d dropped when the spider beast attacked. As soon as she’d collected them all, she started walking toward a low hut, then stopped and looked back. “Busy today. Feeling sorry. Still grateful,” she said, her ears tilting down a little. “Fenerox happy. New friend? Come again?”

Nyota just nodded quietly. It seemed to satisfy the Fenerox, but Lumen approached her as the forager returned to her hut. “Captain?” he asked. “Ya alright there?”

The worry in his voice snapped Nyota out of her daze. “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s move on.”

She didn’t notice the look Lumen and Namina shared as she set off again.

**

“Floran doessn’t like poky tower,” Namina muttered as the town came into view.

“You aren’t supposed to like it,” Nyota said, a bit stiffly, silently cursing herself for carelessness. No avoiding it now. “It’s there to keep threats out, and the people in.”

“We can’t avoid it?” Lumen asked.

Nyota shook her head. “Too close now. They’ve spotted us. I’d rather not be hunted down and interrogated.”

“Interrogated?” Lumen’s plasma dimmed and crackled. His captain’s flat tone was making him almost as nervous as the menacing tower was.

“It will be suspicious if we leave now, and you do not want to look suspicious. Not to the Miniknog.”

“Oh.”

Nyota kept her head down, politely avoiding eye contact as she convinced the guard to let them in. Let them think she was a trader, weak and easily cowed. She explained Lumen as her guide and Namina as her bodyguard, which satisfied the guard. “Do not cause any trouble,” he warned as he stepped aside to let them pass.

“Creepy, ain’t it?” Lumen murmured as they passed houses filled with identical furniture, people wearing identical smiles. Namina mumbled an agreement, keeping his arms tucked close to his body.

“The people are alright,” Nyota said. “They’re like children, really, afraid of nameless monsters and obedient to their caretakers. They know what happens when… where the bad children go.”

Lumen shivered, glancing in her direction. “Ya okay there, Captain?”

“…Don’t ask that question. Not here.”

A few piano notes rang softly in her ears. Nyota flinched. “Don’t touch that,” she snapped. Her expression softened as Namina  jerked away, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want to bring trouble for the owner.”

“Why iss piano here if it makes problemss?” Namina asked, relaxing a bit at her apology.

“For starters, there’s a recording device inside,” Nyota said, dropping her voice so that the bug wouldn’t catch it. “All Apex learn to play,” she continued at her normal volume. “However, only permitted music can be performed. You can use the sheet music there.”

Namina stared blankly at the paper. “Floran doessn’t know dotss and sssquiggles,” he admitted after a few moments.

“Really? I can teach you later,” Nyota offered. “I haven’t played piano in years, but I remember that much.” Namina’s excited smile was infectious.

Dusk was just beginning as they headed outside again. There was a wide courtyard between the two apartments, occupied only benches and a massive statue. “Am I allowed to ask questions about that?” Lumen asked. “Shoot. That’s already a question, ain’t it…”

“That is our glorious leader, Big Ape,” Nyota explained, grateful that she could still imitate the appropriate level of reverence. Too much and the guards would think she was being sarcastic, but stars forbid there be too little. She kept her gaze ahead, refusing to look up at the statue’s eyes. It would not be wise to let it record her face, even if she had changed over the years.

She could feel a slight shift in the air as they entered the next building. Electrical current. Nyota closed her eyes. _There. Beneath us._

“Can I offer you anything, my friend?” a voice interrupted. One of the apartment residents gave her a polite smile.

“No, thank you. I was just enjoying the familiar scent of home. I’ve been travelling for a long time,” Nyota said. “I do appreciate your generosity.” She moved with more purpose now, though no one watching them would have been able to tell. Nyota had much practice in acting casual. She stopped in a room lined with posters of Big Ape, his standard slogan of “OBEY” emblazoned beneath. “Namina, Lumen, shut the doors.”

They obeyed without a word, though Nyota could see the question in their eyes as she pulled out her Matter Manipulator. This room was almost devoid of electricity beyond the lights and… _Aha. Glad to see the clichés haven’t gotten old._ She tapped between Big Ape’s eyes on the second poster. There was a quiet click, and a panel slid open in the floor.

“What the hey?” Lumen whispered.

“Come with me if you want to find out.” Nyota dropped through the hole and crept along the exposed passage, using her Matter Manipulator to clear rubble away. The tunnel ended in a tiny room, barely high enough for her to stand up in. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. There was nobody there. “Check in the cabinet for supplies,” she commanded, gesturing at the pristine furniture.

While Lumen rummaged through its sparse contents, Nyota slid open a nearly invisible panel on the back of the flickering TV, exposing a data port. It didn’t take long to check what she needed. She snagged a few memory discs from the shelf for good measure and gestured for Lumen to follow her. Half a minute later, the floor panel was back in place and the three were on their way out of the town, leaving the guards none the wiser.

“How did Captain know room wass there?” Namina asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Experience. Hidden rooms are a favorite with both the Miniknog and the Rebels,” Nyota explained, flipping through the information she’d collected.

“It sure was interestin’,” Lumen said. “Also creepy. What was that room for?”

Nyota exhaled slowly, looking up at the sky. “I could tell you, but I doubt you would want to know. Are you ready to move on?”

“Ya know where we’re headin’ next?”

Nyota nodded, showing him the Matter Manipulator’s display. “Apex are a fastidious lot, especially the Miniknog. I managed to find their topographical scan for this planet. There are no other towns nearby, but reports mention an ancient Avian tomb. We might find our clues there.”


	28. Tomb Raiding

“The scans didn’t do it justice,” Nyota said, staring up at the massive overhang of stone. “This place is amazing. It must have taken decades to build…” She couldn't see it clearly enough to be sure, but it looked uncannily like an eagle's gaping beak, all built of dark stone brick that was covered in timeworn etchings.

“Ya said this is a tomb?” Lumen asked. “Spooky place.”

“Floran likess ssspooky. Let’sss go!”

“Hold that thought, Fern-fangs,” Lumen said, catching Namina’s arm. The Floran dragged him forward several steps before realizing Lumen was trying to stop him. “Whoa! Stars but yer a strong maverick… Don’t just go stompin’ on in there. One of them Grounded came to my bar once, said he used to go huntin’ for treasure in these tombs. Places’re crawlin’ with traps and guards.”

Namina drew his sword, brandishing it confidently. “Floran issn’t afraid of ssilly guards, too fasst for traps.”

Lumen sighed in a rush of static, his brand crackling. “I ain’t sayin’ ya can’t handle it. Just don’t go chargin’ straight in before ya know what’s up. I ain’t got the skill to stitch yer silly head back on.”

Namina made a face, but he did move more cautiously after that. Nyota fell in beside Lumen as they headed up the stairs. “I’ve been meaning to ask for a while, Lumen… I mean no offense, but you’re a lot more cautious than I’d expect from a Novakid,” she said. “From what I’ve seen, most of your people are more shoot first, think later.”

The Novakid shrugged. “Yeah, most’ve them are. But then, most’ve them are also fast-burnin’ young’uns who never make it past sixty. We calm down a bit after the first century or so, and I never was the wild sort. Learnt my lesson a long time ago.”

“First… century?”

Lumen caught the look on her face and fizzed with mock-indignity. “Hey now, it ain’t that old! I’m just a hundred and nine. Not even close to middle aged.”

“Geezer,” Namina muttered.

“I don’t think I’ve quite hit _thirty_ ,” Nyota said, which made Lumen laugh until his brand gave off sparks. She was glad for the light when they opened the door. It felt like they were being swallowed whole.

-

It was darker than a starless night inside the tomb. Lumen took the lead, his warm glow brightening the path. Namina kept close to him, staying low and moving with such absolute silence that even Nyota was impressed. She stuck to the shadows, exploring ahead as far as she dared before reporting back.

“I can hear humming below us,” she told them, climbing back onto their narrow stone ledge. “High frequency, probably metal moving at high speeds.”

Lumen pulled out a small flare, lit it on a stray spark, and tossed it down. Red light glinted off of sharp blades. “Looks like buzz saws,” he said.

“Really? That’s simple, then.” Nyota dropped back down, pulling out her Matter Manipulator to dismantle the traps. As soon as she’d dealt with them, she signaled to her crewmates, who dropped down beside her. She scratched a mark into the wall, then headed down the east passage.

Moonlight occasionally filtered through windows that were little more than barred slits, illuminating low stone coffins and casting an eerie silver gleam off the metal emblems that lined the walls. Namina avoided the coffins. “Box smellss of old meatss,” he muttered. “Floran would hate to rot in sssuch a tomb.”

Lumen was more intrigued by the symbol on the wall above it. “An emblem of the moon,” he remarked, running his hand over the smooth edges. “I’ve had my fair share of nice times under the moon myself. Fine bit of craftsmanship. Kinda makes me wonder who made this.”

Something shifted in the darkness. “Heads up,” Nyota whispered, stepping behind a statue. “We may be about to find out.

**

“Yer a lot better about this than Fern-fangs was when he got bit,” Lumen remarked as he carefully removed an arrow from Nyota’s shoulder. He had bandages stuck over a few cuts of his own, including one that seemed dangerously close to his brand, but he insisted he was fine. Namina was keeping watch, since he’d gotten through the ambush mostly unscathed.

“It’s easier if I don’t think about it,” Nyota replied. She hissed sharply as he pulled the last bit of the arrowhead out, knuckles turning white as she clenched her fist, but she didn’t flinch. It did get easier with practice. _Stars, I hope I don’t end up practicing_ this _again._

The guard had gotten lucky, really, catching her with an almost impossible shot as she was falling back to help the others. Nyota had seen the surprise in her expression when the arrow actually hit. The Avian ended up a lot more surprised when Nyota flung exploding shards of solarium in retaliation (she was growing very fond of the cultist’s sword). _All things considered, though, it did go well,_ the Apex thought, stubbornly resisting the urge to watch as Lumen finished up. _Outnumbered, in strange territory, and in the dark. I’ve found a good team._

“There ya go. Ya were pretty fortunate there, Captain. It didn't go deep enough to bite bone. Go easy on it for a few hours until the regenerative stuff does its work, but ya should be fine,” Lumen said, patting her uninjured shoulder.

“Thank you.” Nyota stood up, offering Lumen a hand.

The Novakid whistled in surprise as Nyota pulled him up. “Whooo, yer a lot stronger than ya look, Captain. Guess it’s just my day to get dragged around, eh?”

“Friend is made of sstars and fluff,” Namina said, poking him. “Easy to tosss. Floran sspotted ssomething shiny ahead,” he reported, turning to Nyota with a self-satisfied grin. “Metal plate, sset with crysstals. Treasssure?”

“Could be. Mind your step,” Nyota warned. “I hear saws below us again, and the Manipulator can’t reach far enough to break this set.”

It was a tricky couple of jumps, made much worse when Lumen almost lost his footing on the last one. Namina and Nyota both grabbed the Novakid’s arms and hauled him to safety. “Ya know,” Lumen said with a short laugh, his voice still slightly distorted by fear, “that’s the neatest bit of irony I’ve ever seen. I ain't ever complainin' 'bout bein' tossed again.”

“Lightsss person stand _there._ ” Namina grabbed Lumen and moved him several feet away from the edge. “Better. Now talk.”

Whether it was the Floran’s intention or not, Lumen’s glow shone off of a large plaque set into the wall. Nyota switched on the Manipulator’s scanner. “Esther, I think we’ve hit something at last. Are you getting this?”

“Loud and clear, dear. I’ve been keeping an eye on your progress with SAIL’s scanners.”

“I’m not sure what to make of this one,” Nyota admitted, looking closer. She had to look away quickly as the words seemed to shift in Lumen's flickering light. “Avoscript is well beyond me. As far as I can tell, this stone mural details the Avian god’s gifts to his devoted followers.”

“Interesting…” Esther mused. Nyota could hear her typing furiously. “This mural is ancient and uncovers mysteries long since lost. It will be some time before I can manage enough for the details, I’m afraid, but it must be important.”

-

Little else in the old tomb aided Esther’s research, though Nyota did find a pair of wands stowed in a rack of ceremonial spears. They conjured flickering rings of lightning, much to her amusement. “It’s a bit like fireworks, isn’t it?” she remarked.

“Sure, ya could look at it like that,” Lumen chuckled. “Seems the Avian like spears best. I prefer a gun myself, but these people probably didn’t have much choice.”

“Floran like hammers,” Namina said, testing the edge on one spear and shaking his head sadly. “Blunt. No sstab.”

“Ya can’t exactly stab with… ah forget it. Floran probably could.”

Namina grinned.

-

“Well, we’ve made some progress,” Nyota said as she stowed the supplies they’d gathered in the ship’s hold, “but it won’t be enough to pinpoint the relic. If we could talk to Avians that weren’t trying to kill us…”

“Esther said somethin’ about them likin’ jungle planets, right?” Luman asked, looking over her shoulder. “Ain’t any of that sort in Marsic Legion.”

“Right. Brace for FTL jump, then. We’re headed for Maya Prime.”


	29. Ambush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely forgot to mention it before, but as a thank you for 150 hits (almost 175 now!) I wrote a short bit of backstory between Lumen and his friend Sonny (from chapter 17). If you're curious about [how the two met](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10760232), that story should answer a few questions.

Instinct kicked in the moment before she stepped out of the teleporter’s light. “Get down!”

Namina and Lumen ducked behind a tree as gunshots riddled the bark with holes. Drawing her pistol, Nyota returned fire, and was rewarded with shouts of pain and alarm, as well as a thin graze across her hand. “Circle around. I’ll keep their focus,” she ordered. “Try not to kill them.”

The bandits really hadn’t been ready for what they started. It took less than a minute for Nyota and her crewmates to deal with them, even with Nyota’s shoulder still stiff from yesterday’s arrow. _It really is impressive how much a trigger-happy Apex can command attention,_ she thought contentedly as Lumen finished tying up the last bandit. Namina was already rummaging through their supplies. “Leave them whatever food they have,” Nyota said as she joined him. “I have more than enough already.”

Namina sadly put the bacon back.

“Now then,” the Apex said, kneeling in front of the nearest bandit, “what can you tell me about Avians on this planet?”

“A-avians?” the bandit asked. Now that the Apex wasn’t busy dealing with bullets glancing off her armor, Nyota got a better look at her. She hadn’t expected her to be so young. The bandit looked like little more than a girl, really, barely out of her teens.

“Yes, Avians,” Nyota confirmed, swallowing her surprise. “Are there any living on this planet?”

The woman’s eyes went wide. “You too? But… you can’t be with the Occasus.”

Nyota’s eyes narrowed. She knew that name from before her Protectorate days. The rumors had called them a mad human-supremacist group.  They’d reminded her a bit of the Miniknog. “There are Occassus here?”

The woman nodded. “A… a few days ago,” she said. “A couple of them came through here. Higher-ups, purple robes and everything. They were asking about Avians, something about treasure. We sent ‘em to the temple. The Kluex nutters’ll kill ‘em, sure as day. We thought you were some of ‘em looking for revenge when you showed up. Er…” She sounded very nervous.

 _Purple robes… so those were Occasus in the Library._ “I see. Where is this temple?” Nyota said aloud.

“A long walk east, if the monsters don’t eat you first,” one of the other bandits answered. “Here, you ain’t gonna leave us tied up like this, are you?”

“I considered it,” Nyota said. He withered slightly under her stare. “The contraband weapons in your supplies raise doubts about your excuse for attacking us. But your friend here did answer my question.” She drew her knife and cut into the rope, not enough to sever it completely. “If you work together, you should be able to break it,” she told them, standing up, “and by then we should be long gone.  There’s salve for your injuries in that crate, along with a single weapon each. Good luck.”

As soon as they were out of sight of the furiously-struggling bandits, Nyota made sure the immediate area was clear of hostile creatures before heading east. It was one thing to kill a foe in battle. It was another entirely to leave them helpless and let them get eaten.

The bandit hadn’t been joking about how far it was to the tower. The sun had risen and started drifting into early afternoon before hints of gold flickered through the brush, followed by a low entrance, built of sandstone brick and decorated with enormous feathers. “Ain’t this a sight for sore eyes?” Lumen said. “Must be the place that girl was talkin’ about.”

“Lightsss person hass no eyes.”

The Novakid crackled. “It’s a figure of speech, Fern-fangs.”

Namina grinned. He then looked up at the tower, nodding in approval. “Birdman tower iss much nicer than tomb,” he said. “Floran likesss big feathers. We explore down there?”

“Yes. Move quietly,” Nyota said. “I don’t want to deal with Occasus and ‘Kluex nutters’ at the same time.”

-

The tomb had been dark and claustrophobic. Inside the temple was beautiful. Torchlight gleamed off polished sandstone walls and shining gold ornaments, sending bright lights dancing across every surface. “Floran likesss this very much,” Namina said quietly. “Ssshame about the angry birdmen.”

There were definitely signs of a scuffle on the otherwise pristine floors. A few patches of sandstone were darker, despite obvious scrubbing, and Lumen found a torn strip of purple cloth behind one statue. But beyond that and a few fresh torches, the place looked empty. The tomb had felt heavy, full of years. The temple felt like it was waiting for something. It made the breath catch in Nyota's throat and the fur rise along her arms.

“Captain? I found something,” Lumin whispered, waving her over.

“What is it?” Nyota climbed down to join him in the lower half of the grand gallery.

Lumen pointed. “Couple of carvings, just like in that tomb,” he said. “This one’s some kind of sun with an Avian face, and there’s another one up there. What does it mean?”

“I’m not sure. Esther?”

“The sun face is a standard Avian motif. They believe that the sun is a door to the aether,” Esther told her. “Can you get a closer look at the other one?”

Nyota obliged, scrambling onto the platform to scan it. Great care had clearly gone into the carving, which centered around a large red crystal almost as big as her fist. “As far as I can tell, this mural appears to describe some great treasures of the Avian people,” she reported. “That sounds promising.”

“Indeed it does,” Esther agreed. “This mural describes a great _heavenly_ treasure… Descriptions of the Avian artifact could easily be couched in such terms, and it matches what we learned earlier. We’re so close, Nyota!”

“Floran likess good news, sssorry to bring bad,” Namina hissed. “Guard is coming this way. Floran smellsss him.”

Somehow, whether through sheer luck or the guard’s ineptitude, they managed to get out of the temple before anyone spotted them. It was raining hard. Water hissed and evaporated as it hit Lumen, making him flicker uncomfortably. Namina was enjoying it, though. _Of course. Plants love water,_ Nyota thought. She was remembering every downside of having fur, starting with the sheer weight of accumulated water slowing her down.

“You holdin’ up okay, Captain?” Lumen asked as soon as he realized Nyota wasn’t beside him. He looked back right as she tried to shake off. “…Ah. Fern-fangs, start finding a place for a rest, would ya? It’s gettin’ late anyhow. Hey, where’d _you_ go?”

A bush beside him rustled, making him flinch. “Found a good sspot,” Namina said, emerging from the undergrowth. “Problem isss, trouble found sspot first.”

Nyota groaned. “What sort of trouble, and can we avoid it?” _Just once, it would be nice to get somewhere_ without _fighting for our lives._

“Occasssus trouble.”

“Right. Scratch avoiding.” Occasus were too big a threat. She didn’t want the cultists finding them while they were resting.

Two minutes later, Nyota crouched in the undergrowth, adding her sniper fire to Lumen’s pistol shots as Namina dueled the Occasus amid shouts of “A nonbeliever approaches!” and “You picked a bad time to come here!” The Apex knew she would have just slowed him down in this rain, but it was still frustrating, not being able to guard his back. Three on one was rough on anyone, even a battle-hardened Floran. _Three? Wait. Where’s…_ A sudden movement to the left caught her eye and she picked off the cultist that was trying to get behind him. _Well, I suppose that works,_ she thought, reloading and taking aim again.


	30. Under the Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's chapter will be really short; it was intended as a stand-alone of sorts. I'll make up for it with a longer one tomorrow.

They set up camp in a hollow not far from the Occasus camp. Nyota managed to find a bit of dry firewood while Lumen patched Namina up. The Floran watched with nervous fascination as Nyota got a small campfire going, but he held still this time as Lumen finished cleaning up his few cuts. It didn’t take long to dry off and get comfortable afterward. Nyota remembered to go a decent distance away from the others before shaking the water out of her fur (Namina found this process hilarious). After dinner, Lumen pulled out his harmonica. The clouds were finally clearing as the first notes drifted toward the stars.

The fire was starting to burn low. Namina had drifted off ages ago, but Nyota felt no desire to sleep yet. She stared up at the stars, wondering what kinds of worlds drifted around them.

“Still awake, Captain?”

Nyota sat up as Lumen walked over. “You don’t have to call me Captain all the time, you know,” she said.

“Gotta be professional, don’t I?” he asked. His plasma brightened, sparks whirling through like barely-suppressed laughter.

“You’re off duty now. Call me Nyota.”

“As ya command,” Lumen said, sitting beside her. Then his glow dimmed, his tone growing more serious. “Nyota, there’s somethin’ I’ve been meanin’ to ask ya about. Yer Novakid friend, the one that cultist woman… well.” He hummed softly. “Ya called him Isobu. What color was he?”

“Yellow,” Nyota said. “Yellow, like Sol. The humans in our year would joke about it sometimes, since he had a sun-shaped brand. They said he must have been from their sun. He liked that idea, since he couldn’t remember where he’d come from anyway.” She looked up, watching a solitary cloud drift past the stars.

Lumen followed her gaze. “I’d wondered,” he murmured. “I knew him, I think. Well, not in person. Knew _of_ him. Bright yellow Novakid with a sun-shaped brand, crazy enough to fight with a sword while the rest of us stuck to our guns. Isobu Luko, Novakid vigilante.”

“What?” Nyota looked down, startled. “Vigilante?” Isobu _had_ been good with a sword, but a vigilante… She thought back to the day they’d met, him battered and worn and the town guards in uproar to find him. “…That would explain much.”

“He never told ya? Ah well… We used to get stories about him in the bar from time to time. I loved hearin’ them. Crazy Nova.” Lumen chuckled fondly. “Then the stories stopped, a few years back. Rumor had it he’d finally been nailed by somebody, no one agreed on who.” He looked over at her with a thoughtful hum. “Guess they were wrong, though.”

“Wrong at the time,” Nyota corrected him. She sighed and closed her eyes. “I can see where they got the idea, though. Isobu was in pretty rough shape when I met him. Never knew if it was from local monsters or the Miniknog.” The Apex laughed, short and sharp. “Not much difference, some days.”

Lumen stayed silent, but Nyota could feel his concern. She ignored it. She didn’t want to be pitied.

“We joined the Protectorate together,” she explained, her voice soft again. “The guards had heard about him being nearby, so they spent a lot of time patrolling the edge of town. That meant there were less to guard the inside. I stole a communicator and contacted a trade ship heading for Earth. The communicator was good quality, and valuable. They didn’t ask questions. ...It was Isobu’s doing, getting us into the Protectorate. I’d thought about it before, but didn’t know... if they’d take someone like me.” She looked down at her hands, at the thick calluses and long-faded scars. Her laugh was gentle this time, nostalgic. “Isobu just walked in and asked the Grand Protector herself to give us a job.”

Lumen whistled, his plasma flickering with sparks again. “Quite the character, wasn’t he? Titles’re just another word, and who ya were ain’t nothin’ to who ya are.”

“Yes… he said something like that to me not long after we met.” Nyota felt a lump in her throat as she tried to swallow, and blinked the dampness away from the corners of her eyes.

Lumen nodded slowly. “It’s funny… They’re the same person, but yer Isobu sounds like a kinder sort than Isobu Luko from the stories in my bar. Wish I’d gotten the chance to meet him.” The Novakid stood up. “Thanks for humorin’ me, Nyota,” he said. “Sorry ‘bout keepin’ ya up. We should probably rest while we can. Dunno what we’ll find in the mornin’.”

“Thank you for listening, Lumen,” Nyota replied, her warm gratitude washing away the stiffness. “You should tell me some of those stories sometime.”

The Novakid chuckled softly as he walked back to his sleeping bag. “I’ll do that. Get some sleep, Captain.”


	31. Unexpected Allies

The next day brought more rain, and a sky that stubbornly refused to brighten. Nights on this planet seemed unusually long. Even Namina was drooping now. “Floran likess water, but misses the sssun,” he hissed, picking his way through puddles. “When will ssun come back—oof!”

“Namina?” Nyota hurried forward to see the Floran getting up, rubbing his head. “What happened?”

“Floran found box,” Namina said, pointing at a large wooden crate that now had a slight dent in one side. “Why iss box in forest?”

“I can see some barrels a little ways down,” Lumen called. “And… Captain? Ya might want to look up.”

Nyota looked at the sky, not realizing for several long moments what she was seeing. Even after it clicked, she wasn’t sure she believed it. “An airship…”

“It ain’t movin’,” Lumen noted, climbing down from the hill to join them. “Maybe there’s a way up?”

Nyota headed over to the anchor chain and pulled off her boots, tying them to her belt. “Might be. Are you two any good at climbing?”

The chain led into a small, musty wooden room full of wooden crates and the smell of assorted seeds. A rose-feathered Avian wandered in as Nyota shoved the hatch out of the way and clambered up. She didn’t look too surprised to see an Apex in her cargo bay. “You here to trade?”

“Exploring, mostly,” Nyota said, earning an amused smirk, “but I do have a few things to sell if you have extra supplies.”

“See the quartermaster for that,” the Avian said, pointing up. “He hangs out on the top deck. You can’t miss him. Mind your footing up there. And keep your hands to yourself,” she added as Namina scrambled through the hatch.

“Grouchy birdgirl,” the Floran muttered as they headed up. “Floran didn’t touch anything.”

The view from the top was fantastic. Nyota froze as she stepped out on deck, remembering just in time to move out of Namina's way. Trees stretched for miles around them, impossibly far below, punctuated by the occasional river. She could even see the Avian temple they'd visited the day before. A bit of nausea surfaced as the deck shifted under her, but awe quashed it right after.

"Heh, never been on an airship?" a passing crewman asked, chuckling. His arms were full of a heavy crate, so he didn't stop to chat, but the rest of the Avians on deck seemed to relax a bit, or at least be less openly menacing.

This was exactly what Nyota had been hoping for: Avians who weren’t trying to kill them. As soon as she spotted someone who didn’t seem busy, she struck up a conversation. The Avian was quite curious when she mentioned being an explorer, and more than happy to offer a bit of gossip. “You’re looking for old Avian relics, you say?” he asked. “Not a bad idea, that. The Stargazers’ve taken loads from us. We may as well start taking back, am I right? You’d have to be careful about it, though. Some temples of Kluex have ancient guardians.”

“Ancient guardians? What are they guarding?” Nyota promted.

“Beats me,” the Avian said with a shrug. “The Avoscript mentions objects of great power. I don’t know what they might be.”

“Well found, dear!” Esther said as the Avian walked away. “I think that’s just enough… Yes! The Great Sovereign Temple… It must be! That’s all the information we need. Come back to the Ark whenever you’re ready, dear.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Esther.” Nyota was about to turn off the earpiece again when she noticed an alert from SAIL waiting. “SAIL? What is it?”

“I apologize for the interruption, but something unusual has shown up on my scans,” the AI reported. “I’ve been tracking those ruffians from yesterday to make sure they didn’t attempt to track and ambush you.”

“Oh? That was... unexpected. Thank you. Are they nearby?”

“No, quite the opposite… They’ve gone their separate ways. Two have gone beyond where my scanners can pick them up, but the third seems to have ended up on the same planet where you met Lumen, near the old stone house.”

“Near Sonny… Understood. Lumen, Namina, we’ve found the location of the next relic,” she said, turning to her crewmates, “but that might have to wait. I need to check in on something first, make sure our bandit friends aren’t causing trouble.”

**

Sonny looked up as Nyota and her crewmates stepped out of the teleporter beam. “Oh, heya Lumen!” she called, waving. “And Captain Nyota! Huh, I dunno who you are. You’re a Floran, right? What brought y'all this way?”

“We’re trackin’ a scoundrel,” Lumen explained. “Ya seen any hooligans in these parts?”

“Did I ever!” Sonny exclaimed. She gestured for them to follow her inside. The old stone house was a mess. Furniture knocked over, bottles and hardware scattered everywhere, both doors cracked and one barely hanging onto its hinges. “Lookit this mess. Some girl in a black bandana shot on through, followed by the craziest Glitch stampede ya ever saw. I’ve been workin’ my hands raw fixin’ the mess since dawn and it still looks like a twister rolled through. One of the Glitch tol’ me she’d swiped some weapons from them and hightailed it outta there.” Sonny huffed, electricity roiling in her darkened plasma. “Can’t rightly say I blame her for runnin’, with the mess those knights made of this house. But we can’t have thieves ‘n looters around. Could I ask ya to do somethin’ about it?”

“Of course. Do you know where she went?” Nyota asked.

“Yup. East, into the swamp. That’s where the Glitch said they lost track of her.”

Nyota checked her Manipulator’s screen. East. Her readings matched.

-

It started to snow as they reached the start of the swamp, but there was no time to admire it. A light flicked on, followed by a shriek of “No! Leave me alone!”

“Captain!” Rough hands shoved Nyota down. Something burned overhead. There was a dull grunt and a sudden emptiness behind her. The sound of Namina hitting the ground.

“Namina!” Lumen’s voice, terrified. Pounding feet as he ran toward the fallen Floran.

“See to him, Lumen,” Nyota called. _Don’t think._ She drew her sword, energy shards shearing through the second blast. She felt no pain. Her sword ripped through the bandit’s gun and— _her eyes. She’s afraid._ Nyota stopped, blade embedded in the wall beside the bandit’s throat.

She spoke calmly and slowly, forcing the raw emotion back down. “I spared you once. By all rights, you should die for your theft and shooting my crew. Give me a very good reason to let you live.”

“Oh God, it’s you. I didn’t know it was you,” the young woman stammered, dropping the ruined blaster. “I thought it was the metal men coming back. I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known. Please, don’t kill me. Is he alright? I didn’t mean… I was scared.” She tried to keep talking but her voice gave out and she just stared at Nyota, her eyes pleading.

 _Scared. Like a child._ “Lumen, how is Namina?”

“Still breathin’, Captain,” the Novakid called. “I dunno how, after takin’ a rocket like that. Says he wants a word with whoever shot that thing.”

Nyota let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and carefully withdrew her sword. “You’re in luck,” she said. “The jury chose life.” She took a step back and watched the girl relax. “You should return what you stole,” the Apex continued, her voice much gentler now. “I can guide you to an Outpost after that. I suggest you rethink your career, Miss. Banditry is no way to live.”

The bandit shook her head violently. “I only took that blaster, ma’am, and I can’t return that now,” she said. “But… I don’t want to go to any Outposts. I’m done with being a bad person, I swear it, but the other two’d find me in a heartbeat if I went clean like that. I don’t ever want to see ‘em again. They said it was my fault we lost to you.”

“What do you suggest, then?”

“Can I… come with you?”

Nyota stared at her. “What?”

“I’m a good person, really!” the bandit insisted, right hand over her heart and left up like she was taking an oath. “Please, let me stow away on your ship! I’ll work for it, I promise!”

“She already gave ya her resume,” Lumen said drily, helping Namina to his feet. The Floran’s uniform was singed and his feet unsteady, but he offered Nyota a fanged grin as the two caught up. Lumen nodded at the bandit. “That was a damn good shot, and with a tricky weapon to boot. Yer not half bad.”

“Er, thanks?” The bandit smiled nervously.

“What’s your name, then?” Nyota asked.

“…Sorry?”

“Your name,” the Apex repeated. “I can’t hire you if I don’t know your name.”

“Oh! I’m Hadley, ma’am, Alice Hadley.” She attempted a salute with more enthusiasm than precision.

Nyota held out her hand. “I’m Captain Nyota Saimiri. Consider yourself a probationary member, Miss Hadley. Lumen, could you take Namina back, and show Miss Hadley the ship? I need to let Sonny know we’re done here.”

-

“So she blew up your Floran and you gave her a job?” Sonny asked.

“…When you put it that way it does sound ridiculous, but yes, that’s essentially what happened,” Nyota said. She was sitting by Sonny’s fire, having just finished explaining matters to the green Novakid. Sonny proved a much more active listener than Lumen, alternating between constant questions and spellbound wonder.

Sonny laughed. “Who said anythin’ ‘bout ridiculous? I like it! You should have been a Novakid, partner. You think like us.”

Nyota decided, all things considered, that it was a compliment and thanked her. “That’s my business settled, then,” she said, getting up to go. “What about you then, Sonny?” She gestured at the stone house, where the Novakid had obviously given up her efforts at repairing for the day. “I can help you mend things if it you’d like. It is my fault for letting Hadley and her comrades go back in Maya Prime. Your house wouldn’t have been damaged like this otherwise, and Namina wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“Never take fault for showin’ mercy,” Sonny said, shaking her head. “You did good in helpin’ her, both times. It certainly wasn’t your idea t’have them Glitch storm on through. As for that Floran, he knew what he signed on for. Besides, if Lumen says he can help, your Namina’ll be right as rain before long.”

Nyota smiled. “You have a lot of faith in Lumen.”

“Well, sure. Someone has to!” Sonny said, her plasma flaring. “He ain’t gonna say it himself. It’s not his style. Lumen’s the sort to say he’s perfectly ordinary while shootin’ the wings off a fly at a hundred paces with nothin’ but an old pistol. That’s how I met him. He saved my hide on the ol’ Red Planet. Got in a shootin' match for me. I remember, just _bang_ —" she mimed firing a pistol, "—and he dots the i on a tin can at the other end of the street, showin’ up some boastful stranger. Crowd goes wild, and he just walks away, back to servin’ drinks like nothin’ happened! I ask you, who does that?”

“Clearly Lumen does,” Nyota said, too mystified to say anything more intelligent. _What’s a person with skill like that doing running an old bar?_

Sonny snorted. “Of course _he_ does. You know what I meant. He’d probably shush me if he was listenin’, though. Doesn’t like me sharin’ his stories. Guess I won’t be gettin’ any new stories to tell, either, what with him off explorin’ and me stuck down here.” She fell silent for a few moments, her glow dimming to a thoughtful spark. “Hey partner, it’s silly, but you lookin’ for an ol’ starry wanderer to ride with ya? To tell the truth, I’ve been gettin’ kinda lonely down here. I’m nowhere near the crackshot Lumen is, but I’ve a good head for direction, and I learned a thing or two about odd jobs over the years.”

“As long as you can look after yourself, I see no harm in it,” Nyota said. “I’m afraid SAIL’s name for ‘odd-jobs personnel’ is ‘janitor,’ though.”

“Eh, I’ll take what I can get. Anythin’ to get off this frozen hunk of rock.”

-

Lumen didn’t look too surprised to see Sonny follow Nyota out of the teleporter room. “Ya finally got on with it, did ya?” he asked. His tone made it clear he’d be smirking if he had a mouth.

“I had to give ya time to show off for yourself,” Sonny teased, which made the plasma behind his brand glow almost painfully bright.

 _Is that the Novakid equivalent of blushing?_ Nyota wondered. Out loud, she said, “It’s going to be a bit cramped in here as-is with five people wandering around. SAIL, I have a total of four crewmates. This qualifies me for a Kestrel license, yes?”

“It does,” SAIL confirmed. There was a quiet whirring noise as it printed out the appropriate new license. “With this, you should be able to get another upgrade from Penguin Pete. He may be shady, but he does good work,” it added, somewhat grudgingly.

“Good. I’ll work on the sleeping quarters when I get back,” Nyota said, warming up the teleporter again. “I’m going to see what Esther discovered.” Then a thought hit her. She stopped, set the teleporter to ‘stand by,’ and walked over to where Namina was sitting. “I owe you my life,” she said softly.

“Eh?” Namina looked away from Sonny cheerfully bantering with Lumen.

“You pushed me out of the way,” Nyota said. She pointed at the bandages around his bare chest, his green skin showing burnt grey at the edges. “You stepped into fire for me.” She couldn’t quite get her voice to ask why, but he could still see the question in her eyes.

Namina grinned at her. “Floran wassn’t thinking about it,” he admitted. “Floran jusst ssaw danger, friend in danger. Feet move on their own sssometimes.”

 _There’s that word again. Friend._ “Thank you.” 

The Floran shrugged, then winced and laughed at himself. “Ouch. Captain sssaved Floran too, with the meat beasssts. But it issn’t about debtss, yes?”

“I see.” She didn’t, not really, but this wasn’t something she needed to see. It didn’t have to make sense.


	32. The Great Sovereign Temple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jake9039, thank you again for the comments! Still waiting for the crew to finish deciding if the hug counts as a bribe, but you can consider yourself an unofficial honorary crewmate.

Nyota left the upgrade modules with Pete and headed down into the Ark to find Esther. There was a new vendor outside the ruins today, riding some sort of giant camel-like beast. His wares were interesting, but Nyota didn’t have the materials this time. _Another day,_ she thought, reluctantly putting the adaptable crossbow back.

“Ah! Nyota, there you are!” Esther called as the Apex climbed the steps. “You’ve been busy, I take it? SAIL’s records mention three new crew members since you last visited me. Nuru mentioned recruiting a friend of hers, but I don’t think I’d heard anything about the other two?”

“Alice Hadley and Sonny,” Nyota said. “Hadley is… we’ll call it a rehabilitation case. She is an excellent shot as far as I could tell. Sonny is a friend of Lumen’s. I met her a while back.”

“Ah, I see. It’s good to see your crew growing,” Esther said. “It means people have confidence in you, and that’s a must for any Protectorate captain. It makes me rather nostalgic,” she added with a fond smile. “But you probably didn’t come here to listen to an old woman reminiscing. I found where the third relic is hidden. The Avian Artifact is in the Great Sovereign Temple: one of the largest structures devoted to Kluex that the Avians have ever built. These temples tend to be guarded, so take care inside, dear.”

**

“Ya headin’ off?” Sonny watched Nyota sift through her gear, making sure she had enough healing supplies for the trip.

“Yes. The sooner I leave, the sooner I will be able to find the relic. Hadley mentioned Occasus asking about it, and I’d rather not risk losing it to them.” She’d have preferred more than one red stimpack, but they were always hard to find... Hopefully she wouldn't need to use it.

“Ya ain’t takin’ anyone along? It’s kinda dangerous to go all on your lonesome. Lumen’d come if ya asked,” Sonny said. “He was sayin’ about how ya went to some big underwater library together. Or bring that big Floran, he’s a tough customer.”

“Yes, I know they would come if I allowed it,” Nyota said. Lumen had said as much when she returned to the ship. She shook her head. “Namina puts a brave face on it, but I saw the damage that rocket did. I am not putting him in harm’s way again until I’m sure he can take it. And Lumen’s the only one of us with any kind of medical skill. I wish I could take him along, but I won’t need his help as much as Namina does now.”

“About that…” Sonny jumped. She hadn’t noticed Hadley joining them. The human cleared her throat nervously. “Let me come with you in Namina’s place. It’s my fault he can’t help you today. It’s… it’s the least I can do,” she said, her voice trailing off.

“You’re sure?” Nyota turned to face the former bandit. “It will be dangerous there. I do not know what I’m facing, and even common Avian temples are full of traps. The Great Sovereign Temple is sure to be worse than any of them.”

Hadley met Nyota’s eyes for the first time. She nodded. “I’m sure.”

Nyota smiled. “Thank you.”

“Can I come too?” Sonny asked, brightening up. “I can’t shoot worth a darn, but I’ve a good head for dungeon sorts. Started spelunkin’ back when I was little more ‘n a protokid. I know a thing or two about temples and traps.”

“…alright. One condition, for both of you.” Nyota tapped SAIL’s screen, pulling up the teleporter options. She’d finally finished the new program. This would be as good a time as any to test it. “I’ve upgraded SAIL’s teleportation abilities. It can pull us back to the ship if we get in over our heads as long as you hold still long enough for it to get a lock on you. My condition is this: if you sustain severe injury, or if I command you to fall back, SAIL will warp you back here. I’m not losing anyone today.”

“Understood, Captain!” Hadley said. Sonny nodded her agreement.

“Good. There are spare weapons and medical supplies in the locker. Get what you need. Assume we will have no way to resupply until we return.”

**

Nyota opened her eyes and looked around. She was in some sort of cave, which didn’t surprise her considering the Avian knack for stonework. The ceiling, so high overhead that she could barely make out any details, was lit by the last rays of a setting sun that crept through the cave entrance. There was no gold, though, nothing she’d come to expect from Avian sacred places. This wasn’t the temple yet. Intricately carved sandstone poked through the decades of dust, though, and she followed them.

The cave ended abruptly in a vast open space. Market stalls dotted the edges and burnt-out torches lined the pathway up to a vast tower made entirely of polished sandstone.

“Wow. What a place!” Hadley exclaimed, looking around.

“It sure was nice _once_ ,” Sonny said.  She prodded the canvas over an empty stall. It was stiff with dirt and age. A bit more poking revealed dry-rot and the mummified remains of old fruit. “It’s a right ol’ ghost town now. Dunno if anyone’s been here in ages.”

“Someone has,” Nyota said, pointing. “I can see him at the entrance. Excuse me?”

The Avian snorted and shook himself awake, setting the golden ornaments around his neck jangling. “Snrrk… Oh! …A visitor! Welcome to the temple! It’s lovely to have you here. I’m Tonauac, the temple caretaker.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tonauac,” Nyota said. “I am Nyota.” After spending years being the tallest person in any given room, it felt incredibly strange to look up at the huge white Avian. She barely reached his shoulder.

“And your companions?” Tonauac asked, shaking himself a little more awake and looking expectantly at them.

“Call me Hadley,” the former bandit said, offering and receiving a handshake. She had to stand on her toes so he could reach.

“The name’s Sonny. I ain’t ever seen an Avian as tall as ya,” Sonny said. “I bet ya could just about catch the moon if ya stretched a bit.”

“Oh my, are you one of the starborn? This is an honor!” Tonauac exclaimed, bending down to get a better look at her. “I’m proud to welcome all of you to the Great Sovereign Temple! Are you here to learn about our wondrous god Kluex? I’d be very pleased to help! I’ll show you around. One thing, though, please don’t touch anything. You see, we’ve had problems in the past. I know you’d never dream of taking anything, but not all people are as trustworthy. It’s quite upsetting…”

Hadley shifted guiltily at the mention of thieves, but Tonauac apparently didn’t notice. He turned around and lifted the massive iron gate without any apparent effort. “Please, do come in! Mind your head, and your feet, and your… self. It can be a bit dangerous in here.”

“I like this ol’ budgie. Can we keep him?” Sonny joked. Judging by the sparks in her brightly-glowing plasma, she’d taken an almost literal shine to the temple keeper.

“I am an Avian, not a budgerigar,” Tonauac said, though he didn't seem irritated, “but it is always nice to make new friends. Just please don’t call me Tony. Do watch that last step, it’s a little bit loose. Whoops!” He caught Hadley as she lost her balance.

“Thanks,” Hadley said, shaking a little as she righted herself. “Does that, um, happen a lot?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Great as the Temple is, it is also old,” Tonauac sighed. “I keep telling myself to fix that one, but somehow I never find the time… But here we are!” He climbed another short flight of stairs to a raised dais. “These ceremonial masks are very ancient, and imbued with the cosmic power of Kluex. We think. They’re so ancient we’ve sort of lost track… But we know for sure that Kluex is a big fan of ceremonial masks! Now if you would come this way… Thankfully _these_ steps are perfectly fine.”

Nyota found herself smiling as she followed the big Avian to the next display. After years of Big Ape propaganda, Tonauac’s simple honesty was quite refreshing.

Tonauac led them next to a low golden table that would probably have been more beautiful, in Nyota’s opinion, without the all-too-familiar stains of dried blood. She suppressed a shudder and looked away. _I didn’t need to remember that._

Oblivious to the Apex’s reaction, Tonauac beamed at his guests. “This is our sacrificial altar,” he said proudly. “It’s a very fine example. These grooves channel the blood along its full length. This temple was one of those built by Kluex himself, you know.”

“Yer god built all this?” Sonny asked. Her brand glowed softly, giving off a faint hum. “But this place is huge.”

“Yes,” Tonauac agreed. “No one’s been to the bottom of it in many lifetimes. Gosh! He is mighty and wondrous, isn’t he?”

Nyota shook herself as the Avian headed toward the next exhibit, remembering to put on an expression of awed fascination. It wasn’t too difficult this time. She really was fascinated by the history in this place. As with the Library, it astonished her, the thought that the other races could remember back to the dawn of their kind.

“And here’s the last exhibit on the guided tour,” Tonauac was saying as Nyota caught up. “This is a statue of an old Avian warrior! These are his spears…” He indicated some gold-trimmed spears with scarlet-beaded accents. “He doesn’t use them anymore because, um, he’s dead. Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour! Please feel free to have a wander round. Sadly, this is the last door that’s open to our visitors. Only caretakers and almighty deities beyond this point. There’s lovely items in the chamber above, then you leave by coming back this way. Let me get the door.”

He shuffled over and pulled the heavy portcullis up, apparently without any effort at all. “PLEASE don’t try to go further in,” he added. “It’s just too dangerous…” The last word was slightly muffled by a huge yawn. “Mm, so nice to make a new friend… But these tours are… a bit… tiring…” Almost before he finished speaking, the huge Avian was asleep on his feet.

“I don’t believe it,” Hadley said. “How does he do that?”

“Stop poking him and come on,” Nyota hissed, ducking under the portcullis. “We do not know how long he’ll sleep. I want to be done by the time he wakes up.”

“Yes, best to look around for a way in while he’s sleeping, dear,” Esther agreed as the Apex climbed into the chamber above. “We wouldn’t want to worry him.”


	33. Too Many Traps

“What exactly are we looking for, Captain?” Hadley asked as she followed Nyota into the room above. She stopped for a moment to admire the gold emblems on the walls before hurrying after her captain.

“A button, a lever, a console, anything to get that second door open,” Nyota said. “Ah! There we are.” She tapped a few keys on the golden console she found and was rewarded with a faint metallic clunk below them. She dropped down through a hatch in the floor, landing in a silent crouch. 

Sonny glanced back as they headed through the door. “I hope the ol’ budgie ain’t too mad at us later,” she whispered.

Light vanished almost immediately as they passed through the doorway, as if it was swallowed by the room beyond. Even Sonny’s radiance didn’t make it far past her. A lone torch sat in the middle of the floor, revealing the way downward. Nyota dropped down, then froze. Something was off.

Scarlet light seared through the air where she would have been if she’d kept moving. Fear froze her muscles as the light scarred the sandstone below. “Nine hells,” she breathed.

“Captain! Ya okay?” Lumen’s voice crackled through SAIL’s intercom, sharp and staticky with fear. “SAIL just picked up a huge energy readin’. What’s goin’ on?”

“I’m fine, Lumen. SAIL, rescan the temple. Your estimates were off,” Nyota told it. Her voice was a bit sharper than usual as she tried to force the fear down.

SAIL whirred quietly. “It would appear the crystal acts as both a battery and a focus for the massive energy output, producing deadly lasers,” it reported. “Previous data would imply that a temple this ancient could not maintain a security system this deadly… Recalibrating Intimidation Parameters.”

“Right on cue,” Sonny muttered as she dropped in beside Nyota. “Sorry to say that there’re a bunch more of ‘em up ahead.” She sparked as another beam shot off below them.

“Can you catch the timing?” Nyota asked. They followed a pattern, she was sure of it, but this was not the sort of trap that would be forgiving if she made a mistake.

“Sure. It’s just energy. I’m energy. We speak the same lingo, it’s just angrier than I am,” Sonny said. Her brand hummed, glowing just like it had when she commented on the size of the Temple earlier. “There we go. Right… If ya scoot when I say, ya oughta make it. Ready… Now!”

Nyota dropped down and sprinted through the narrow corridor as the ray vanished, diving under a second beam at Sonny's shout. Another trap's laser hissed overhead; she jumped up and caught the ledge below it right as it faded and swung herself past. The third one shook the bricks beside her as she landed; it filled the low corridor. No way around. Nyota could see the way out just past the focus crystal. She also spotted a thin ledge just above the laser as it fired again. Behind her, she heard Sonny calling the timing for Hadley. Nothing for it... She dropped down, ran as fast as she could across the cooling stones, and leapt for safety as the crystal fired again.

Just as she thought she'd made it, crouching on a ledge below the last laser, two more seared past her, their heat close enough to singe her face. She froze, counting the seconds between bursts, and barely avoided one last shot as she tumbled into the dark room below.

“Let’s not do that again,” Nyota said as the other two caught up. “I have become very fond of my fur, and of not getting it scorched off.”

“Seconded,” Hadley panted. “…the not-getting-scorching part, not having fur.”

“Still… we made good progress,” Nyota remarked, looking around. The room was pretty dark, but her Matter Manipulator’s light gleamed off the gold accents and sandstone ceiling. It was vast, stretching beyond her light’s reach. There was another small room off to her left. “Which way?”

“Try the little room first,” Sonny said, heading that way. “Little rooms always have treasures in temples like this. Or traps,” she added with a laugh.

Hadley muttered something about sane people avoiding traps, but she didn’t want to get left behind, so she followed Nyota and Sonny. The small side room certainly didn’t look like it had any treasure. “These bunny statues’re cute,” Hadley commented, tapping the nearest one’s nose, “but this is just a dead end.”

Sonny was already walking around the outer edge, running her hand along the bricks. “I wouldn’t bet on that,” she muttered. Her glow brightened, illuminating the wall. “There’s a hidden room back here. Can ya feel it? Here, touch here.” She grabbed Nyota’s hand and pressed it against the wall.

Nyota stared blankly at the stones for a few seconds before pulling her hand back. “I don’t think I can feel what you can, Sonny,” she said, “but I will take your word for it. There will be a switch to get in.”

A sudden splash made them both look back. Hadley was pulling herself, dripping, out of the shallow pool. “Oof… Uh, watch your footing,” she said, pointing at the soaked tiles. “It’s kinda slippery.”

“Are you alright?” Nyota asked.

“What? Oh, yeah, sure. Just rattled.” Hadley tugged off her helmet to empty the water out of it. “Maybe bruised, but it’s not bad. There’s a tile down there that sticks up a bit, got my knee good. Captain?”

Nyota waded into the shallow pool. Sure enough, one tile stuck up above the others. She stepped on it and was rewarded with a harsh stone grinding noise as the far wall slid open. “Well found, Hadley.”

“Thanks, Captain,” Hadley said with a grin. “We'll go with I meant to do that. So where’s it go?”

The Apex looked at Sonny, who shrugged. “It’s twistier’n a square dancin’ snake, but best I can tell ya is ‘up’.” She spread her hands, fingertips shining with green light. “I can stick a bit of energy in the stones and read the echoes t’get the size ‘n shape of things, but it ain’t any good for details.”

“Can all Novakid do that?” Nyota asked as she ducked into the narrow cavern.

“I dunno. I ain’t ever met someone else who could,” Sonny said, following her, “but all it takes is practice.”

Hadley laughed. “Maybe that’s why you never met anyone else who could do it. Who ever heard of a Novakid practicing something?” she teased.

Sonny fizzed, though it was hard to tell if she was irritated or laughing with Hadley. “Yeah, fair point. I kind of figured it out by accident and kept tryin’ to see if I was imaginin’ things. A few dozen caves later I realized I knew exactly where I was, even though I couldn’t see a thing. Climb straight up there, Captain. The walls get smooth after that.”

-

Dull red light shone against the walls. _It would be less eerie if it flickered,_ Nyota thought, stepping into the room. There was no denying that the Avian crystal technology was remarkably advanced, especially considering its age, but even mass-produced Apex light fixtures had more life than the red crystals set into the walls.

“Now this is something,” Hadley said, looking around. “Is it a burial chamber? It’s creepy…”

“I don’t see why. It’s just dust and the odd feather. Ain’t like they’re in there anymore,” Sonny said, attempting without success to shove the stone lid off a low sarcophagus until Nyota gave her a hand. “Thanks, Captain.”

“This one is empty,” Nyota said, peering inside. “Wait, no. Hold that thought…” She nudged the lid a bit further and eased a book out of the far corner. The cover was tattered, but the words inside were still legible enough for her translator to pick them up. “[A Stargazer’s journal](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fstarbounder.org%2FThe_Gift&t=NThmYmRlNzk4MWUyYTQxZTM2YjIxYTJiZDk3MWViZjc2ZTFjYWJjOCxlWjR2RVBkeA%3D%3D&b=t%3AXXhj7FZb4QSm9gTp8IWjkw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fnyotasaimiri.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F155069794304%2Fgreat-sovereign-temple-part-4&m=1)! We are definitely in the right place. This mentions an ancient gift from Kluex, left at the dawn of time. That confirms Esther’s research.”

“I’m glad there wasn’t any _one_ inside,” Hadley said, shivering. “You hear stories… and I found one once. It was awful.”

“What’re ya scared for?” Sonny asked. “Yer a bandit, right? Bandits aren’t exactly known for their mercy.”

Hadley shook her head. “I don’t mind dead things that much, but some of the old Stargazers… They’d take a liking to a particular human sometimes, you know. That’s why you see the human-shaped gold coffins sometimes. Sometimes, when an important Stargazer died, they’d try to take their human with ‘em. And sometimes… the human, well, wasn’t quite dead. You can see where they tried to get out…” Her voice trailed off.

“Yup, that’s nasty,” Sonny agreed. She shivered. Her usual green glow was considerably greyer. “Ugh, didn’t need to imagine that.”

“Shhh,” Nyota hissed, holding up her hand. She could hear something, a low scratching. Like plastic on stone. “Something’s coming.”

“Scorpion!” Hadley scrambled away from the low opening as a huge black scorpion scuttled out, stinger raised and claws snapping at her feet. She answered it with a burst of gunfire that turned the creature into a black smear on the stones.

“There are more of them,” Nyota warned, drawing her sword. The giant arachnids shied away from the light briefly, but surged after her again as soon as the initial surprise died. She danced out of the way, sending short surges of energy into the swarm and keeping her feet well away from their stingers.

Sonny’s brand made a wild droning sound, her plasma almost white. “Scorpions! Of all the luck!” The Novakid scrambled up onto the sarcophagus, swiping at them with her dagger. “Yah, get away from me, ya awful varmints! Get away, get away…”

It took nearly a full minute to wipe out the last of the vicious things. “Is anyone hurt?” Nyota asked, cleaning her sword before sheathing it again.

“No, I think we’re fine,” Hadley said. Sonny nodded, climbing carefully down from the sarcophagus. “I guess you were right,” the bandit added with a slightly shaky grin. “Those little rooms. Both treasure and traps, right?”

Sonny crackled. “I don’t much like bein’ right about the second one.”

“It looks like there’s a way out up here,” Nyota said, gesturing for them to follow her. “Ah… Sonny, I’ll need your help again. We’re back at the laser traps.” The Apex sighed. _Here we go again._


	34. Golems

It was easier the second time, but Nyota was still glad to pass the last set of lasers and reach the dark room again. “Watch your step,” she called as Hadley and Sonny caught up.

“Geez, Captain, you’re really fast with those things,” Hadley said. “You do a lot of trap runs or what… whoa!” She stumbled backward as Nyota grabbed her shoulder, dragging her back.

The Apex flicked on her Manipulator’s light, illuminating long spikes that lined the floor ahead. Each one was easily as long as her arm, their points sharp, some of them stained with old blood. “I did say watch your step,” she said quietly.

“Y-yes ma’am,” Hadley whispered, staring at the spikes. “How’re we going to cross that?”

Nyota clipped the Manipulator to her belt and took a few steps back. “Follow my lead. Move fast, or those platforms will drop you.” The Apex studied the gaps for a few moments, gauging the distance, then took off, jumping from ledge to platform to ledge without any apparent effort. The platform slid in a second after her feet touched it, but she was already landing on the far side. “Wait for it to slide back out,” she called, shining her light back at her crew so they could see the way across.

“Yikes. Avians sure are a scary lot,” Hadley said. “So is our captain, for that matter. Here goes…” She screwed up her courage and followed Nyota.

Nyota caught her hand, steadying her. “Nicely done. Sonny, can you make it?”

The Novakid made a high crackling noise, not quite clear enough for Nyota to figure out if it was laughing or swearing. “One way t’find out. Catch me, captain!”

Something hummed to life behind them as Nyota and Hadley caught Sonny and set her down. Red light brightened around them. Hadley let go of the Novakid’s arm and turned around, pulling out her shotgun. The nervousness from the jump vanished as she spotted a birdlike golem rising from a gap in the floor. “Time for me to earn my keep, ma'am,” she said. “Spike floors are nasty, but monsters I can handle.”

One of the golem’s energy bursts clipped Hadley’s hip, but she landed a shot to its core before it could fire another off. “Ooh, that one stings,” she muttered, checking the wound. “How’d I do, Captain?”

Nyota passed her a pot of salve. “You have excellent aim,” she said. As Hadley took care of the burn, she added, “Learning to dodge might help, perhaps?”

The former bandit laughed, handing the pot back. “Don’t I know it. Leadfoot, the others called me. But I can’t afford to move much. Can’t shoot as straight when I’m running.”

The Apex patted her shoulder. “I can teach you,” she offered. “Once that mends, at least. Lumen will have my head if my training interferes with healing.”

Sonny hummed with laughter, shaking her head. “Hoo, he would though. Hold off on goin’ down there, Captain. I got a funny feelin’ ‘bout that room over there. The echo’s off a bit. There, see? Switches!” She pointed at the golden statues. The other two could just see the glinting red crystals on the lower two.

“Five switches…” Nyota mused. “I’d guess there’s some specific order to them.” _Avians can’t fly, and last I checked the ancients didn’t have jetpacks. Top three can’t be first. One of the lower two, then. Then adjacent… Middle wouldn’t be second, too far to jump for the last ones._ “Right. Brace yourselves,” she said, activating her Jump tech. “I hope this isn’t the sort that sets off traps if I get it wrong.”

Lower left, upper left, middle, lower right, upper right. Nyota jumped down as the fifth light switched on, rolling to break her fall, and waited for whatever reprisals the temple builders had planned. Then the locked hatch slid open.  The other two cheered as she stood up. “How’d ya know it, Captain?” Sonny asked.

“We’ll call it luck,” Nyota said, letting out a sigh of relief.

The hatch led to a small but richly-adorned room lined with gold sarcophagi and elegant supports. A low altar in the middle held a large wooden chest, which produced a strange, feathered helmet and (to Nyota’s immense pleasure) a grappling hook. The hook was considerably newer than the helm. _Probably left by a wayward adventurer,_ Nyota thought, clipping it next to her Matter Manipulator. She was about to go when she heard a quiet sound. “Wait… what was that?”

Sonny looked around. “Ya heard it too? Sounded like it came from this ol’ thing…” She laid a hand on the humanoid sarcophagus. She recoiled almost immediately, flaring white in terror. “Oh, stars! There’s a _thing_ in there! It ain’t dead!”

“What?! But that’s centuries old,” Nyota said, trying to cling to reason. Her fur bristled.

“It ain’t alive either, Captain.” Sonny’s voice was sharp, almost tinny with fear as she backed away.

Hadley was already climbing out of the little room. “I knew it, I knew it,” she muttered. “I knew I’d find another of the damned things. It can’t get out if you don’t open the lid, but I’m not spending another moment near it.”

Sonny followed her back to the switch room as fast as she could climb. The cold stone hissed under her glowing hands. Nyota took up the rear. She glanced back at the sarcophagus, then shuddered and climbed higher. She hadn’t wanted to remember that, either.

**

It took several minutes before the three explorers were ready to move on after the encounter with the sarcophagus. Nyota’s small collection of sweets did wonders for calming everyone’s nerves. Just as they finished eating, Nyota’s earpiece beeped.

“Captain?” Lumen’s voice crackled through. “Ya doin’ alright down there? SAIL says ya haven’t moved in a while. Esther’s startin’ to get a mite worried. To tell the truth, I am too. Yer still breathin’, right?”

Nyota switched the earpiece to speaker. “We’re doing well enough. Hadley received a minor injury earlier and we had a bit of a scare with an… inhabited sarcophagus, but nothing serious. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“Lumen always worries,” Sonny said, though she didn’t sound unhappy about it.

“So where are ya now?” Lumen asked, either ignoring or not hearing Sonny’s remark.

Nyota turned on the Matter Manipulator’s scanner and aimed it at the emblems on the walls of the small room they were resting in. “There are signs for both fire and water,” she said, “and trapdoors below them.”

SAIL whirred as its scanners warmed up. “Path split detected,” it confirmed. “I would advise taking neither the right nor the left path. Regrettably, this is not an option.”

Hadley stifled a giggle. “For a fancy cutting-edge machine, it isn’t too bright, is it?”

Nyota sighed. “Do the rest of you have _helpful_ advice?”

The earpiece hummed as Esther’s frequency joined the conversation. Nuru’s voice hissed through. “I. Hate. Fire. You have to AVOID it! You can’t sstab it! You can’t shoot it! You just have to sskulk around and hope it doesn’t notice you.”

“That sounds like a vote for water. Sonny, are you alright with swimming?” Nyota asked. She personally didn't much like either option; all Apex had a healthy aversion to fire, but deep water wasn't a good idea either, with thick, dense fur to soak it up and pull her down.

The Novakid shrugged. “I’ll be alright as long as ya take the lead. Jus' don't leave me down there too long.”

The water was surprisingly comfortable, lit by pale diamond-shaped lights. It didn’t stay that way. Long spines lined the deeper parts of the path. Nyota did her best to swim between them; too low or too high, and she’d skewer herself. Considering the traps they’d found so far, though, she knew the fire route would have been just as tricky to get through. Sonny pointed out two more secret passages, both containing other ancient journals, though her ability to find them seemed somewhat dulled in the water. Nyota was quite pleased to add them to her collection. Her new prizes made dodging the spines a little more worth it. She must have forgotten to turn off the scanner though, because Koichi’s voice almost broke her concentration as she neared the end of the tunnels.

“This place is sort of homely… Minus the abominable spikes of course. Obviously…”

“Fishman has water in hisss brain,” Namina hissed from the other line.  He sounded well enough, if a little grumpy. Koichi tactfully ignored the remark.

Another flying golem was waiting for them at the end of the flooded tunnels, but defeating it was much easier this time as Nyota and Sonny held its focus so Hadley could shoot without worrying about dodging. “That was almost fun,” Sonny said cheerfully. “It’s like playing laser tag with actual lasers.”

“Uh-oh.” Hadley reloaded her shotgun. “Sonny, I hope you’re real good at laser tag. There’s a big one down there.”

Red light flickered in the darkness as the huge bird statue woke. Unlike the others, this one was anchored to the floor. Its crystal eyes locked on them. Instead of a single burst, five scarlet lights formed around it, humming with energy. “Void- _ash_ ,” Nyota gasped. “Split up!”

The three dove for cover as the light crashed into the ground where they had been, sending chips of sandstone flying. Nyota felt the blood drain from her face. The previous lasers hadn’t been able to even scratch the temple walls. Clearly this was the point where the builders had started caring more about protecting the depths than the decorations. The bird head swiveled toward her and it fired again. She rolled out of the way, bringing up her rifle to knock its head spinning. Somewhere, she heard Sonny gasp with pain. Laser fire hummed around her again. No time to check. Her sword bit into the stone body, not deep enough.

“Captain! Down!”

Nyota dropped flat as Hadley’s shotgun tore into the totem’s core. It quavered, then crumbled. Something small and dark was crushed beneath the falling rock; Nyota caught a glimpse of insectlike legs. Standing up, she called, “Hadley? Sonny? Are you two alright?”

Sonny was kneeling on the floor, one hand pressed to her leg. Hadley crouched next to her, stowing her shotgun. “I’m fine,” the human said, “but scorpions got out of the cracks down there. One of them tagged Sonny.”

“I’ll be alright,” Sonny said, trying to stand. Her brand sparked and she gasped, falling back. Hadley caught her. Something dark swirled inside the plasma near Sonny’s ankle, leeching at the light. “On second thought, I think I’ll stay down for now,” the Novakid muttered. Her voice was slightly slurred as a silvery crust flaked along the bottom of her star-shaped brand.

“What kind of scorpions _are_ they?” Hadley hissed, eyes wide. “How do you poison _plasma?_ ”

“I don’t know,” Nyota said, “but we have to get you help. Lumen, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Captain,” he said. “SAIL just got your coordinates again.”

“Good. Tell SAIL to call Sonny back. A scorpion stung her and it’s reacting badly.”

The earpiece crackled briefly as Lumen cursed. Sonny giggled. “I ain’t heard that one before,” she teased. Her light dulled as she looked over at Nyota. “Sorry, Captain. I said I’d help ya, and here I am bowin’ out before the big rodeo.”

“You already helped,” Nyota reassured her. “Now go rest. You’ve earned it.”

Sonny’s light warmed into a smile as she vanished. A second later, Lumen confirmed that she arrived safely. Nyota stood up and offered Hadley a hand getting to her feet. “It’s just us, then,” she said, “but we can’t be far from the end. Are you still with me?”

“Of course I am,” Hadley said. “You said you’d teach me, didn’t you? I’ve got to make sure you survive to keep that promise.”

Nyota smiled. “Fair enough. Come on.”


	35. Kluex

There was a large shape waiting at the far end of the room. 

“Oh! Tonauac!” Nyota hurried over to the big Avian.

The Avian’s eyes lit up as he spotted her. “Oh, there you are!” he exclaimed. “I’m so relieved you’re safe. I suppose you got lost… You really shouldn’t be here… Actually,” he added, looking around, “I shouldn’t be here either—I’ve not been this deep into the Temple before… Truthfully, um, I’m lost too… But between us I’m sure we can find a way back!” He turned around and wrenched a portcullis up, then looked back at Nyota, giving her an encouraging nod. “This door is a little too small for me. I’m sure you’ll fit though.”

Nyota obligingly ducked through, then looked back at the caretaker. “What about you, Tonauac?”

He chuckled. “Oh, I’ll be alright. Kluex will protect me. I’ve made it this far thanks to his guidance. He’s so wonderful… You have a check around through there, and I’ll hunt about for an exit on this side.” The Avian shuffled off, humming to himself.

“Odd bird, but I like him,” Hadley said. “I still can’t imagine him dodging all those traps we found, though. And how’d he get here before us?”

“Some mysteries will never be answered. Watch your back,” Nyota said, sniping a giant bat out of the air as it swooped down at her crewmate.

One long hallway and a dozen bloodthirsty bats later, they came to another fork in the path. “It’s just water down below,” Hadley reported. “Think that one there’s one of Sonny’s little treasure rooms?”

“It is,” Nyota confirmed, lighting up the back wall. She could see a row of four white diamond lights, each with a switch below them. It took her three tries this time before she figured out the right combination. _Second, fourth, first, third_. The door slid open. This time, there was nothing but a handful of pixels in the sarcophagus, but the chest in the corner held a few medical kits. Nyota collected them before heading back over to Hadley.

“We’ll have to swim after all,” she said. The former bandit sighed.

-

Nyota caught a glimpse of bright gold right before she went under, but she knew better than to stare at the mounds of treasure beneath the water. She’d seen purple in the middle of the gold. Human-shaped.

“Who are you?” the cultist shouted as Nyota climbed out of the water. He took a step back. “You! Nox warned us about you! Are you here to stop us? It doesn’t matter anyway!”

Nyota didn’t waste time talking. She drew her sword, the solarium humming to life. The sight of it only seemed to infuriate the cultist further.

“You dare… Get your filthy paws off our leader’s sword, ape!”

Hadley’s arrival distracted him, partially because she answered him with a blast from her shotgun. “You’re the filthy one, Occasus!” she snapped. “Go back to the hole you crawled out of!”

“Sympathizer!” the cultist’s companion hissed. She didn’t get much further as Nyota’s sword bit into her. Both cultists dissolved into light.

Hadley let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks for that, Captain. I hadn’t noticed the other one.”

“That was reckless,” Nyota said, collecting the stimpaks they dropped. Red and blue. Red would be useful in case of injury, at least. The blue ones were more novelties than anything as far as she was concerned.

“Sorry… I just can’t stand them. They give humans a bad name. I’ll be more careful next time,” Hadley promised.

“I’m not scolding,” the Apex told her. “Your recklessness bought me time. But it could put your life in danger if I’m not here to help you. We’ll call that the first lesson, shall we? Knowledge is your best weapon. Learn all you can before leaping in.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Hadley produced an enthusiastic but sloppy salute.

Nyota laughed softly, shaking her head, and gently corrected her crewmate’s form. “There you go. Reload while we have time,” she commanded. “I see the last doorway up ahead.”

**

The last door opened to a massive stone room, its ceiling covered in carvings. Nyota didn't waste time admiring them, though. A massive birdlike statue sat in the middle, its head, eyes, and wings shaped from scarlet Avolite crystals, just like the golems earlier. Its base was covered in Avoscript. Nyota crept a few steps closer, trying to decipher them. It always gave her a headache, reading complex scripts, but any kind of information could help them down here, and she didn't dare get close enough to scan it for Esther. "It's a command of some kind. Something... _before... the_ bearer? No,  _Avatar,"_ she muttered under her breath. " _Kneel before the Avatar of Kluex._ "

The air shifted. 

Cold blue light illuminated the room as the Avatar came to life. The crystals forming it flickered through several colors before settling on red. Nyota dove out of the way as it summoned rays of light, just like the totem they’d fought before. _Here we go._  She fired one shot into its core, but had to run again as it shifted to blue, the floor freezing into icy spikes.

“Ouch! Who built this thing?” Hadley asked, wrenching her sleeve free.

“Tonauac would probably tell us it was Kluex,” Nyota replied grimly. “I couldn’t say. Apex don’t have gods. But I know my shot damaged it. We can destroy it.”

“Glad it’s holding still,” Hadley muttered, scrambling out of the way of some kind of kinetic burst. “Couldn’t hit if it was moving.”

It didn’t take much focused fire to crack the Avatar’s core, much to their relief. The golem’s light dimmed, its wings dropping. Then its eyes flared and its wings spread wide. The pillar that had held it in place shattered. The Avatar rose into the air, its eyes cold and triumphant as it stared down at them.

“Damn,” Nyota breathed.

Lasers shrieked through the air, followed by merciless pillars of ice. Hadley stumbled as a force blast almost hit her, rolling aside at the last moment. She was limping badly now. Dodging was doing nothing good for her injured hip. “I’m starting to wonder if you were right about the Kluex thing,” she shouted over the roaring gale.

Nyota kept up a hail of gunfire, aiming for its core again. She found herself whispering, almost praying, with no idea who she spoke to. She didn’t care. Every shot had to hit. She was tired, and Hadley wouldn’t hold out much longer either. A burst clipped her rifle, sending it spinning out of her hands. She drew her pistol instead, knowing it wouldn’t do enough.

Then the Avatar’s eyes changed again, burning gold. Hadley screamed as the floor burned red-hot, the stone softening in the heat. She tried to climb onto the pillars that rose out of the floor, but her injured leg gave out. “Captain! Help me!”

“SAIL, get Hadley out of here!” Nyota ordered. Her crewmate vanished right as the Avatar descended over where she had fallen, boiling rock spraying from its beak. Relief at Hadley’s escape was drowned in terrified awe. _Is this really a god’s wrath…?_ Then she saw the deep cracks in its core.

“Captain!” Lumen’s voice rang in her ear. “Ya have to get out of there too. SAIL’s goin’ haywire tryin’ to process whatever’s happenin’. It ain’t worth dyin’ for!”

“I’m not dying today.” Nyota threw her dagger as hard as she could, right into the deepest crack in the golem’s crystal heart. The molten rock stopped. The Avatar clicked, a sound so small that the hiss of superheated stone should have swallowed it, but somehow it seemed to echo through the whole temple. The light died.

Stone thundered down, the crystalline wings splintering into thousands of tiny shards. The core hung in the air for a moment longer before hitting the floor, splitting perfectly up the center. It was almost too perfect, like watching an egg hatch. The halves fell away to reveal a long staff, its tip crowned with crystalline imitations of the Avatar’s wings and core. It warmed slightly as Nyota’s hand closed around it. She held it up to the light, staring, too numb to feel wonder.

The far door slid open.


	36. The Third Relic

“Captain, please tell me ya lived through that,” Lumen said.

“I did,” Nyota confirmed, “but don’t ask me how. How’s Hadley?”

Lumen whistled softly. “Her hands are scorched up pretty good, but not so bad I can’t fix ‘em,” he said. “Sonny’s doin’ alright too now. Venom’s mostly gone, so I’m tryin’ to convince her to sleep off the last of it. That’s goin’ about as well as ya might expect.”

Nyota could hear Sonny protesting in the background, refusing to sleep until her Captain got back. She sighed, smiling. “I’ll come home soon,” she promised. “The relic is just up ahead.”

She wasn’t entirely surprised to see that Tonauac had gotten there before her. The big Avian looked from her to the staff and back at her, his eyes bright and glittering in its red light. “I see what you were up to!” he declared. “The whole time!!”

Nyota braced herself. He was sure to be angry if he’d finally realized she’d snuck in for the relic. To her surprise, though, the Avian’s face broke into the closest a beak could get to a broad smile. “You’re here to serve Kluex!” he continued, beaming. “I mean, you simply couldn’t have gotten this far without his favour and guidance.”

“You were guided too, then,” Nyota said, returning his smile. “I am glad you made it through safely, Tonauac.”

“You and I both,” he agreed, ruffling his feathers. “It’s very tricky getting through some of those little tunnels. But I’m even more glad I was privileged to watch you prove yourself to His mighty Avatar,” he said, refusing to be derailed. “And you bear the Staff! It’s a sign that this artifact is here for you.”

Before her fight with the final golem, Nyota might have expressed her doubt at his words. Even if there was some divine will, why would it favor _her?_ Now, though, remembering how every shot hit, how perfectly her dagger sank home, she just looked down at the staff and remained silent. Gods or no gods, something was watching out for her.

Tonauac stepped aside, indicating a glowing red disc above the golden plinth. “These Avolite crystals hold fragments of Kluex’s will,” he said, his voice filled with reverence. “Please, let me join you? I’m a dedicated and enthusiastic servant of Kluex—I promise I’m worthy!” He was practically bouncing with excitement.

Nyota put a hand on his shoulder, which was about as high as she could reach. “It’s not up to me to decide if you’re worthy,” she said, “but I’m happy to accept your help. Thank you.”

She closed her eyes as the teleporter activated. She was so very tired now. But there was always more work to be done.

-

Tonauac was happily settling in as Nyota walked down the steps to the Ark. He waved her over and gravely pronounced, “And Kluex said, ‘Let there be boons upon my warriors!’” The dramatic effect was somewhat spoiled when he grinned and added, “Oh good, it worked. Should you need Kluex’s blessings, I’d be happy to help you.”

Nyota looked down at herself. She didn’t seem any different, but when she climbed the Ark steps it took much less time than she’d expected. The floor smoked slightly where her feet had touched it. Far below, Tonauac beamed.

Esther was laughing. “You couldn’t wait to see me, dear?” she teased. “It’s good to see you back safely. And I see you’ve brought us a new friend! You really do have a knack for people, don’t you?”

_It is proving rather useful,_ an older side of her mind whispered. She ignored it. Aloud, she said, “I’m still not sure why half of them chose to follow me, but I’m glad for their company. I brought you the relic, Esther.” She pulled the red gem out of her pocket. As soon as the Ark’s light touched it, it shot out of her hand so fast she almost didn’t see it move. There was a tiny click as it slotted itself in place.

Esther nodded with satisfaction. “Another artifact in place. We’re getting there steadily, dear! Well done!”

Nyota looked up at the carving, then had to grab the door for support as the world spun. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Just tired. We’ll have to talk about the next artifact later,” she said, waving away Esther’s concern.

“Go get some sleep, then,” Esther told her. “We’re halfway there. You’ve more than earned it.”

“Yer fine, my foot,” Lumen muttered as Nyota stepped out of the teleporter. “Captain, with all due respect, yer a mess.”

“Don’t eavesdrop,” Nyota said, managing a half-smile. _Home. Safe._ She didn’t have the energy to fight as sleep dragged her eyes shut.

Lumen caught her, then sighed. “What am I goin’ t’do with ya?” he asked with a quiet laugh. “Crazy captain.”

**

Nyota spent the next few days resting and dealing with minor tasks on the ship. She didn’t need Lumen’s report to know that last adventure had taken a lot out of her. The fight with the Kluex Avatar alone had left her with more laser scars and bruises than she cared to count. Regeneration stimpaks could handle a lot, but she had come too far to push her luck now. Besides, her rifle needed mended.

The first thing she did after waking up was check in with her crewmates. Hadley’s hands and knees were bandaged up, the wrapping smelling faintly of aloe, but she didn’t seem too bothered by it. “Lumen stuck some numbing stuff on them for me as soon as I got back,” she said when Nyota asked how she was doing. “He’s really used to dealing with burns, apparently.”

That got a laugh out of Sonny. “Work a Novakid saloon with lots of human patrons and ya see a lot of burns real fast,” she said. “We ain’t too good at keepin’ the heat down once we’ve had a pint or two, and some folks get real cuddly when they’re deep in their cups.”

Hadley winced. “No offense, but remind me not to go drinking with Novakid.”

Lumen fizzed with amusement as he sorted through his supplies. “Yer smarter ‘n most then, Hadley. Lots of folk’d take that as a challenge when I tried warnin’ them ‘bout it. Hoo, did they learn fast.”

“How are your supplies holding up, Lumen?” Nyota asked. “We have been overworking you lately.”

The Novakid whistled thoughtfully, putting a few bottles away. “If we go flyin’ around a volcano, I might be in for it,” he said. “Gettin’ a tad low on my favorite cold salves.” He looked over at her, his glow brightening. “Glad to see ya up and about, Captain. Ya weren’t kiddin’ about mendin’ fast.”

“This is more ‘putting a tough face on it’ than ‘mended,’” Nyota admitted, helping him catch an escaped bottle of anti-toxin. “Speaking of which, where is Namina?”

“Bein’ a stir-crazy nutter,” Lumen said, gesturing up.

Nyota climbed through the hatch into the crew lounge and immediately ducked down again as an explosion of sound washed over her. The piano stopped a moment later, though her ears were still ringing when Namina hopped off the stool and ran over to her. “Floran sssmells Captain,” he said, grinning. Then he made a face, adding, “Captain sssmells like medicine.”

“I’ll be smelling of it for a few days yet,” she told him. “You’ve been practicing.”

Namina grinned sheepishly. “Floran iss bored,” he said. “Musssic is fun.”

Nyota flipped open the top of the piano bench, earning an astonished hiss, and pulled a book of sheet music out of the little storage space. “Mind if I join you? I did promise to teach you how to read music.”

She hadn’t realized Floran smiles could get that wide.

–

Esther had a warm smile and a mint humbug for her when Nyota climbed the Ark steps again. “You’re looking chipper today, dear,” she said. “I take it you’re ready to start hunting for relics again?”

“I am,” Nyota said. “Which one are we aiming for?”

The old woman tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I think we should begin our hunt for the Apex artifact. As you probably know, Apex can be found on—are you alright, dear?” she asked as Nyota drew in a sharp breath. “It’s alright if you’re not up for it.”

“No, it’s not that…” Nyota closed her eyes. “I can tell you well enough who has the Apex artifact. If my people have anything of value, it ended up in Big Ape’s hands long ago. As for finding _him_ , the Resistance has been trying that for years without success. Even most of the Miniknog has no idea where he is. Orders are received from higher-ups. No one asks questions.”

“I… I see,” Esther said. “That is quite the problem. I might be able to help with that, though. Shortly before the destruction of the Earth, a member of the Resistance sent a message to a Protectorate contact, an Apex by the name of Nikko.”

Nyota could almost feel Esther’s curious stare, but she managed to control herself this time. _Old Nikko! I had wondered…_ “What was in the message?” she asked.

Esther turned her computer around so Nyota could see it too. “I’m afraid the original was lost with the main archive, but with Koichi’s help I’ve managed to recover a little from one of our outposts. The Resistance member was apparently acting alone, but he said his cell had gotten a solid lead at last on the whereabouts of Big Ape and wanted Protectorate assistance in finding him and taking him down. The… incident happened before the Grand Protector could send a response.”

Nyota studied the screen, then looked up at Esther. “We have to hurry then,” she said, straightening up. “We have to find it before they do. If the rebels get there first, they’ll assume the relic is a Miniknog device and destroy it. I don’t suppose he sent the actual location?”

“If he did, it is in part of the letter that I haven’t recovered yet,” Esther said, shaking her head sadly. “But something this big has to have spread. The Resistance has an impressive intelligence network. Unfortunately, you’ll have to seek the details in person. Be on your guard, dear.”

“Understood. Thanks, Esther. I shouldn’t take long.”


	37. Back in Town

“Everyone who’s able, find your gear,” Nyota called as she stepped out of the teleporter room. “We have work to do! Lumen, is anyone ship-bound today?”

“Everyone’s itchin’ for adventure and sturdy enough t’manage it as far as I’m concerned,” Lumen said, looking up from his card game with Sonny. “Straight flush, by the way. That beats yer full house.” He ignored the other Novakid’s irritated crackle and stood up, heading for the locker to collect his supplies. “What are we doin’ this time?”

Hadley and Namina climbed down from the lounge and watched her expectantly.

“We’re looking for the Apex relic,” Nyota told her crew. “We don’t have that much time.” She explained quickly about Big Ape, the Miniknog, and the Resistance, repeating what she’d told Esther.

Lumen whistled. “That’s a right doozy we got on our hands, Captain,” he said. “We ain’t even close to ready for a real tussle with yer people’s Miniknog, and ain’t got the time to get there.”

“Maybe if we split up?” Hadley offered. “Safety in numbers is great, but so is actually having good armor.”

“That’s what I had in mind,” Nyota said, nodding. “I’ll be looking for information on Big Ape. I am familiar with both Miniknog and rebel systems, so I can access whatever they might have without much trouble. Namina or Hadley, I would appreciate one of you with me, in case trouble isn’t of the electronic sort.”

“Floran wantsss to come, but Floran iss better with oress and sssmithing than crewmate is,” Namina hissed. “Maybe Floran can hunt while ssscrounging?”

“I’m with you, then,” Sonny said cheerfully. “I’m great at findin’ things underground.”

“Lumen, Hadley, that leaves you two with me,” Nyota said, turning to them.

“I was hopin’ ya’d say that.” Lumen hummed contentedly, sparks flickering in his plasma. “Interestin’ stuff always happens when I follow ya around.”

“Seconded! Let me get my gear,” Hadley said. “Where are we going first?”

Nyota was already heading for the cockpit. “Namina and Sonny are going to a frozen star system. The three of us are going back to an Apex town. It’s a good place to start.”

**

Lumen and Hadley were both astonished at the shift in Nyota’s persona as soon as they entered the town. She went from tense but experienced commander to cheerful, disarmingly-polite merchant so easily that even Lumen couldn’t tell if she was acting or not. Even her voice was different, about half an octave up and touched with a strange accent that neither of her companions was familiar with. She asked no questions, and yet somehow the citizens and guards were both willing to share gossip within minutes of meeting her. The guards did grumble a bit about strangers and insisted they keep out of trouble, but no one really seemed inclined to threaten the friendly traveler or her companions.

“That was something else,” Hadley commented as soon as they were out of earshot and Nyota’d made sure there were no cameras around. “I’ve heard all these stories about the big scary Miniknog and how they’re impossible to fool. You’ve practically got ‘em eating out of your hand. How?”

“Long practice. The Miniknog are still people under that armor. I have played this part before, so I know it well enough to fool myself,” Nyota whispered back. “The secret is doing only what is expected of you. You can’t lay it on too thick. If I walked in professing my love of Big Ape, speaking with a thick homeland accent, and asking to shine everyone’s shoes, they would smell a rat right away. ...Of course, don’t play it up enough and you’re taken for ‘corrective reeducation.’ Sorry, it’s ‘thought reassignment’ these days.”

Hadley stared blankly at her. “Thought… what?” Her eyes widened. “How?”

“It’s unpleasant,” Nyota said simply.

Nyota managed to pick up a bit more gossip as afternoon fell into evening. Hadley and Lumen followed suit at her quiet encouragement. Hadley managed to engage one guard in a long discussion about his weapon preferences until he was called back on duty, while Lumen’s thick accent and straightforward charm won the confusion and amusement of several citizens. By curfew, instead of being turned away with the other few travelers who’d wandered in, Nyota managed to coax a spare room out of the apartment manager.

She waited for about three hours after the doors were locked, then roused the other two. “Follow me,” she whispered. “The guard’s dozing and SAIL just finished rigging the cameras. Now is the best chance we’ll get.”

-

Hadley and Lumen kept watch as Nyota inspected what they considered the most unlikely of targets, sliding open hidden panels on the walls and scanning small lanterns. Lumen had said he saw her work like this once with the hidden room, but it was still strange how efficiently their captain moved. Hadley found herself wondering how often she’d done it before.

“That’s it for here,” Nyota whispered as she rejoined them. “Come on. There’s one more place I want to try.”

Lumen dimmed as far as he could go without dozing off as they slipped out into the streets. Nyota led them down the steps and across the short path, instinctively avoiding the camera arcs despite her confidence that SAIL had command of them with the program she’d given it. It never hurt to play safe.

“What are we going to find in the shop?” Hadley muttered as she followed her captain inside. It really didn’t seem like the kind of place for what she thought of as sneaky spy stuff.

“A lot of trouble if we were planning to steal any of the goods,” Nyota replied, heading upstairs. “You can bet the shopkeeper has absolutely everything counted. She has a quota to meet. As strangers, we’re the easiest suspects, and even I can’t bluff my way out of that. Ah. Here we are.” She aimed the Matter Manipulator at a large grey Apex plush toy, hesitating when she spotted the gleam of lenses where its eyes should have been.

“Captain? Whatcha find?” Lumen asked.

“Clever,” Nyota breathed. “I thought it was just a biometric reader like the lanterns, but they’ve rigged cameras into its eyes. Esther, I hope you’re awake for this.”

“You’re lucky I’m a bit of an insomniac,” the old woman said. She sounded a bit cross, but that vanished when she got the data Nyota sent her. “This doll is actually a spy camera… I suppose I should not be surprised. The Miniknog controls every aspect of Apex lives and culture. I’m going to attempt to trace this camera’s signal… Thank you for finding this.”

“It was a lucky one,” Nyota replied. “…We should go back. The dummies I rigged in our room will only last so long.”

The morning passed peacefully enough. Their host offered them breakfast, though he was noticeably relieved when Nyota informed him that they’d brought their own rations. Lumen traded some of their extra supplies to replenish his stash of medicine, but by midmorning, in the relative privacy of their room, Nyota informed them that there wasn’t much more they could find here.

“The doll was an excellent find, but there’s only so much in an inhabited outskirts town like this one,” she said, keeping her voice low.

“Did you figure out where—where we’re going next?” Hadley asked. She had a feeling it would be best to keep their full purpose quiet.

“Not the endgame, but I can get us closer.” Nyota showed them her Matter Manipulator’s screen. It was displaying the surface survey of a dark planet. “I found the coordinates of—” She stopped, gently set the device on her bed, and stood up. She walked over to the door, her feet making no sound on the hardwood. The other two saw her lips move: _One… two…_

Nyota yanked the door open, stepping aside to let the Apex on the other side tumble past. She shut the door again and planted a foot between the intruder’s shoulder blades, not hard enough to hurt yet, but enough to make a point that getting up too quickly would be a bad idea. “One of the things I have learned over the years,” she said quietly, “is that the Apex are a subtle race, but we are not built for stealth. Do you have a name?”

“O-Oldarva,” the other Apex mumbled, her voice muffled by her sleeves. Her arms were wrapped around her head to protect herself, leaving only a few tufts of ginger hair poking through. “I’m sorry, I didn’t, I…” She made a quiet noise, like the hiccupping sound that comes before a sob, then let out a long breath. Her voice was a little calmer as she said, “I saw you last night.”


	38. Oldarva

Hadley saw Nyota stiffen, then glance over in their direction. The former bandit had been focused on Oldarva, but as she looked around, wondering what drew Nyota’s gaze, she felt Lumen shift beside her. He was watching their captain instead of the Apex at her feet. Novakid could stare with an intensity that even races that had eyes could never come close to. Hadley heard his voice, such a quiet hum that she would have missed it if she wasn’t sitting right next to him. “ _It’s yer call, Captain._ ”

Several long seconds passed. Then Nyota stepped back. She knelt down, pulling Oldarva upright with more delicacy than Hadley had expected. “You’ve put all of our lives in danger, and you know that,” the dark-haired Apex whispered. “But you are also inexperienced, and scared, which tells me you don’t work for the Miniknog. Am I right?”

Oldarva nodded.

Nyota stood up, then helped pull Oldarva to her feet. “I will trust you this once. I hope you are a good actress,” she whispered. “Let’s head outside.” Shifting to her normal volume again and adopting the slight accent from her merchant persona as she opened the door, she continued, “That sounds like an excellent bargain. Could you show me please?”

Oldarva smiled broadly, her relieved expression easily believable as someone settling a tricky deal instead of someone who just watched her life flash before her eyes. “Yes, of course. Follow me, my friend. Your bodyguard and guide should come as well. I’m sure it would interest them.”

“This is a good spot,” Nyota murmured shortly after they went outside. Oldarva stopped and turned to face them, her back to the wall, smiling nervously.

“I know you are looking for something. I saw you last night,” she repeated. “I have told no one. Please, believe me.”

Nyota waited a few seconds before nodding. “Why were you out after curfew?” she asked.

“How did–? Ah. Yes,” Oldarva said. She took a deep breath. “I was out of my room because I want to leave. You’re from off-world, aren’t you?” She indicated the protectorate symbol on Hadley’s uniform. “I’ve seen that mark before, when I was a child. They were good people. I… couldn’t ask them then. Please! I’ve been looking for months now, and all I’ve found is that I can’t get out alone. Take me with you!”

Nyota studied her, keeping her face was carefully blank, but Hadley caught a flicker of a deep, bitter nostalgia in her eyes before she managed to wipe the emotion away. She wondered what her captain was thinking.

Lumen stepped in beside Nyota and put a hand on her shoulder. “Her cards are all on the table,” he whispered. “She ain’t hidin’ nothin’.”

That settled something. Hadley saw her captain’s stance shift, from tense and ready to something softer. “I understand. SAIL, that backup program I gave you? Modify it. Oldarva, you may want to brace yourself.”

“Brace?” Oldarva looked briefly terrified. “Brace for wha—” She didn’t get to finish that sentence as SAIL teleported her out.

Oldarva was standing up shakily as Nyota and her crew left the teleporter. “You scared me for a moment,” she said, her voice as unsteady as she looked. “Ooh, that was… Oh.”

“Steady, steady,” Nyota muttered, catching her as she stumbled. “Sorry for that, I could have phrased it better. The teleporter always throws me off so I thought I should warn you.” She let go of Oldarva’s arm, ready to catch again as the other Apex steadied herself. “It looks like you get hit even worse than I do.”

“Yes, that was… it was like a rollercoaster, but at light speed. Do you do that every time?” Oldarva asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. Lumen, Hadley, could you show her around, please? I have to finish something.” Nyota ducked into the next room. Hadley could hear her muttering to SAIL.

Lumen whistled. “Ain’t this gonna be interestin’,” he said. “Welcome to the ship, ma’am. The name’s Lumen. This lady here’s Alice Hadley. She blew up our Floran.”

Hadley made a sound halfway between sigh and growl, covering her face with one hand. “First, just Hadley please. Second, am I ever going to be allowed to forget that?”

The Novakid chuckled. “Why would ya want t’forget it? Yer a fine shot. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen anythin’ knock ol’ Fern-fangs flat. Anyhow, he got better.”

Oldarva’s already-wide eyes widened even further. “You have a Floran?”

“Hoo boy.” Lumen tucked his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. “First stop after the ol’ ship tour, crew lounge. Ya’d better pull up a seat, ma’am. I got some stories to tell ya.”

**

Nyota climbed up to the crew lounge an hour later to see Hadley and Oldarva sitting at the card table, staring with distinct embarrassment (on Hadley’s part) and starry-eyed wonder (on Oldarva’s) as Lumen finished telling them about how they’d recruited Hadley. From the look of things, this wasn’t the first story. “First Mate Lumen,” she said, making all of them jump, “have you finished showing our guest around?”

“That I have, Captain,” he replied, standing up. “Just shootin’ the breeze. I figured she oughta know who she’s travellin’ with.”

“Miss—I mean, Captain Saimiri,” Oldarva said, following suit with a bit more scrambling. “My stars, I knew you were a traveler, but I had no idea how much…”

“Lumen,” Nyota said sharply, “just what did you tell her?”

“Nothin’ but the truth, ma’am,” the Novakid said, as sincerely as he could, though a few stray sparks betrayed a bit of amusement. “She asked about our Fern-fangs, and one thing led to another.”

Nyota sighed. Even relatively-reliable Lumen wasn’t immune to the Novakid habit of getting sidetracked. “Oldarva, could you come with me?” she asked, returning to business. “I need your help before I can finish what I’m working on. You two should come as well,” she added, gesturing for Hadley and Lumen to follow.

“Yes, of course!” Oldarva followed her down the ladder, the other two close behind.

As they passed the teleporter room, Hadley asked, “Did you really duel the leader of the Occasus? Lumen said something about it, but he wouldn’t give us any details. Said something about it being your place to tell us.”

“Yes, I did fight her,” Nyota replied, almost absently. “This is her sword.”

Oldarva’s eyes widened again. “Oh my. He didn’t mention that.”

Nyota pinched the bridge of her nose, faintly embarrassed by the praise in Oldarva’s voice, though her hand did nothing to hide the slight pink that colored her ears. “She almost killed both of us, and she did escape. There is nothing to boast over.” She wasn’t quite sure if she was saying that to her crew or herself.

“Even surviving is impressive!” Hadley exclaimed. “I’ve heard all kinds of stories about her. Dang, if we’d known you’d tangled with Asra, the boys and I would never’ve messed with you.”

“Asra?” _Her name?_ _The Occasus outside the old temple referred to that sword as “Nox’s”._ Nyota shook her head, clearing the thoughts away. She had Miniknog to deal with now, not Occasus. “Never mind. Oldarva, I will need your full name and your identification number.”

“Oldarva Mertin, occasionally known as Eldie,” Oldarva said automatically. “I still have my registry card with me.”

“Excellent. Thank you.” Nyota took the card and started entering information on SAIL’s keyboard. The others stared at the code running across the screen, mystified.

“Captain, what’s that do?” Hadley asked at last.

Nyota folded the keyboard away and removed the memory chip she’d saved her work on. “Nothing, until I get this to a Miniknog computer.”

“To a wait what now?” Hadley shot her an incredulous look. “Captain, where are we gonna find one of those? We can’t go back to that town we were in, can we?”

The Apex signaled for them to follow her again as she headed for the cockpit. “It won’t have what I need. Do you recall the planet I showed you? It’s in the orbital next to the planet Sonny and Namina are exploring. I found mention of an old Miniknog facility there. It was recorded as ‘failed,’ which means no soldiers. There should still be some tech there I can use. It’s no trouble to add one more thing to the list.”

“Tech? You… are you working with the Resistance?” Oldarva asked.

“No. Sit down or hold onto something. FTL drive’s warming up.”

-

The wind bit right through Nyota’s fur as she materialized on the surface of Muhlifain Morass VI. She looked around; nothing but dark sky and darker land, black silhouettes against the distant stars. A single tattered pennant fluttered in the breeze, adding an eerie semblance of life to the small ruin beyond it.

“Geez, this is creepy,” Hadley said, hurrying over to stand next to her. “I swear I just saw that statue blink.”

Lumen shivered, brightening as much as he could. “It’s so dark here,” he whispered, looking around. “Don’t fancy stayin’ too long. This place ain’t ever seen the sun.”


	39. Shadows

To Nyota’s surprise, there were people in the ruins. At first she thought they were her crew’s shadows, cast by the distant moon, until the first one opened his eyes. Her hand dropped automatically to her pistol, but the man didn’t move, and she slowly moved her hand away.

They didn’t speak a word when she approached them, but they didn’t run, either. They seemed fascinated by her and her crew, especially Lumen. He held perfectly still as a shadow woman touched his face before drawing back with a strange shiver, her eyes bright and curious. “Well I’ll be,” he whispered, watching her retreat slowly under a shallow ledge. “Shadow folk. I’ve heard stories.”

“The Miniknog’s planet survey mentioned rumors of them, but no one has ever proven they are real,” Nyota told him. “It… feels like they’re trying to talk to us. I wish I could understand.”

Hadley shuddered and scooted away as another shadow tried to reach for her. “I don’t. I don’t like these things,” she admitted. “They’re kind of scary. Harmless enough, I guess, but their statues are creepy.” She stopped as the shadow made a kind of sighing sound. There were no words, but he sounded distinctly disappointed. “Er, no offense? Captain, we ought to find that facility—”

As one, the shadow folk pointed west.

“Okay. Damn. I’m scared,” Hadley said, backing away to stand behind Nyota and Lumen. “But I guess that was helpful. Thanks?”

“I don’t think they’re hostile,” Nyota said as she followed the shadows’ directions. “Just… curious.”

They saw no more shadow people as they walked west, though they passed several strange ruins carved from the planet’s obsidian surface. Tall statues rose out of the wind-scoured wastes, gleaming red lights glaring down at them like eyes. Nyota was almost relieved when the Miniknog laboratory finally came into sight.

“I have only two commands, but you _must_ obey them to the letter if you follow me in here,” she said, turning to her crew. “First, do not open any doors until I check them first. Second, if I tell you to run, you run, whatever happens.”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Understood, Captain.” A faint flicker in Lumen’s glow was the only sign that he was more worried than he sounded.

Nyota switched her Matter Manipulator to wiring mode as she searched for the password for the massive steel door. It opened on the second try.

-

The laboratory halls were dark, which confirmed Nyota’s hopes that the place was abandoned. Only a few flickering lights illuminated the lower rooms. Whole sections of wall had crumbled, forming piles of rubble on the floor. Water trickled from long-broken pipes. No active facility would ever be allowed to fall into such disrepair. Something moved in the water. Nyota shot it down and watched it dissolve.

“Captain? Trouble?” Lumen climbed down to join her.

She shook herself, shoving the memories back down. “No, just a bat,” she lied. “Watch your step.” _Stars, I never wanted to come back. Not to this. I didn’t want to see that again._

_**_

The corridors were in bad shape, half-blocked with rubble, occasionally submerged, and poorly lit, but they did follow the standard layout, much to Nyota’s mixed relief and discomfort. She found a few old computers as they ventured deeper, but they were all offline. No good for what she was after. Lumen did manage to scrounge up a few stimpacks with regenerative medicine, and one with some sort of fluid he couldn’t identify. Nyota took one look at it and told him to put it back.

The flooding was no problem, but the old traps were. Barbed wire lined the floors of several rooms and quite a few monsters had moved in after the scientists moved out.

“Hadley! Watch yer head!” Lumen called.

The former bandit whirled just in time to swat the green bat out of the air, but the sudden movement knocked her off balance. Lumen dove forward, catching her hand as she slipped. “Whoa there!” His brand glowed white as he dug his heels in, slowly hauling Hadley back up. “Hoo, don’t want to do that again,” he said, swaying slightly as the glow faded. “Ya alright?”

“Fi… Fine,” Hadley mumbled, eyeing the wire. “Just rattled.” She didn’t let go of Lumen’s arm until Nyota had finished dismantling the wires and started across.

“Watch your step down here,” Nyota whispered as she led them down a particularly dark corridor. “The traps will be worse as we get deeper in.”

Something splashed below them them.

Lumen turned toward the source, brightening slightly. “What in tarnation… is that an Apex?” His light paled and he scrambled backward with a startled crackle. “Nine hells! That ain’t no Apex!”

Nyota swore, pistol aimed and firing before Lumen finished speaking. “Back up!” she commanded. “Don’t let it near you!”

Hadley hit it with a round from her shotgun, but it didn’t even flinch. It just kept shambling forward. “Captain, what is that thing?” she asked, reloading and taking aim again.

“Don’t ask, just shoot!”

The creature put on a sudden burst of speed, tackling Lumen. An awful smell of burning fur filled the room as the Novakid thrashed and struggled in its grip, color completely gone and the shallow water hissing and steaming against him. Nyota dropped her gun and lunged at it, locking one arm around its neck. It flung Lumen away and twisted free, turning to bite. She ducked its teeth and slid her dagger between its ribs. There was an awful pause; nobody moved. Then the creature dissolved, staining the water black.

“Lumen,” Nyota said slowly, her voice unnaturally calm, “are you alright?”

Lumen picked himself up, shaking. “I ain’t the religious type, Captain, but I swear that thing was somethin’ unholy,” he rasped, fear warping his voice into something sharp and tinny. “It’s got an awful grip, but nothin’ I won’t mend from. You?”

“I’m unhurt.”

“Can I ask what that was now?” Hadley asked. Her face was almost as white as Lumen’s.

Nyota sighed. “They’re what happens when you tinker with Apex DNA too much,” she explained softly, “and the reason this laboratory was abandoned. Those who know of them just call them mutants.” She found a clean trickle of water to rinse the sludge off her hands. “They’re unstable, as you saw, and feel neither pain nor fear.”

Hadley tightened her grip on her gun. “That was a _person_ once?”

“Yes. The Miniknog leaves them as ‘guard dogs’ for their research when an experiment fails and it would take too much effort and manpower to clear them out. It’s cheaper to build a new facility.” Nyota could hear herself speaking, but her own voice sounded almost distant to her ears. She wanted to hate what this place was doing to her. She couldn’t even feel enough for that. It was getting all too easy to slip back into the old mask.


	40. Trouble

The corridor led to nothing but a blank tech card and a dead end. Nyota stopped where the paths diverged and turned to her crew. “You can return to the ship if you want,” she said. “I can guide you out from here. There will definitely be more mutants ahead.”

Lumen shook his head. He put a hand to his throat where it had grabbed him. His membrane was noticeably thicker there, almost like it had bruised where the mutant had gripped with enough force to crack it. “I can’t leave ya to fight those varmints alone after feelin’ what they did to me. Yer tough, sure, but them devils are real rattlers. Besides,” he added, sparking with humor, “someone’s gotta be the bait.”

Hadley was silent for a long moment. “I don’t want to see them again,” she muttered, “but at least I can shoot them.” It sounded a bit like she was trying to convince herself, but her smile at least was confident.

“Thank you.” Nyota found herself smiling back, a bit of gratitude and pride surfacing under the mask.

They found their first trapped door a few minutes later. “Captain, I’m gettin’ a funny buzz from up above us,” Lumen reported as he followed her across a series of tricky jumps. “Somethin’ electrical up there.”

Her eyes weren’t sharp enough to pick out whatever Lumen had noticed, but the Matter Manipulator confirmed wiring above them, along with a small explosive charge. “Good catch,” Nyota said, patting his shoulder. “There’s probably something nasty up there, ready to drop when… here we are.” She finished disconnecting the trigger from the door.

“Geez… monsters, mutants, and explosives,” Hadley muttered, following her through the door. “Whatever’s down here, the Miniknog really didn’t… Eh? Why’d we stop?”

“SAIL picked up two more mutants ahead,” Nyota said, checking her Manipulator screen again. “We’ll have a better chance if we surprise them.”

-

“I really hate those things… Thanks for the save, Lumen. Where’d you get the molotov?” Hadley asked, cleaning her sword off. The second mutant had tried charging them after Nyota took down the first. The exploding bottle had bought her enough time to switch from gun to blade.

“Ya work a Novakid saloon, ya learn a lot ‘bout what booze goes bang,” he said with a shrug. “Now let’s see what they were guardin’. …Captain?”

Nyota had already gone ahead. Water sloshed around her ankles, but fortunately it hadn’t damaged her target, an old but functioning drone rig. She avoided looking at anything else. “Esther, take a look at this,” she said, scanning it.

“Excellent find, dear!” Esther exclaimed. “This drone’s database is saturated with useful information. We’re so close now. I just need one more solid clue.”

“Good. That’s all we’ll find here. Ah, there you are,” she added, looking up as Hadley and Lumen joined her.

“Captain, what is this?” Hadley asked.

“It’s what I was looking for, a computer connected to the Miniknog database,” Nyota said.

“No, that wasn’t… What is this place?” Hadley stared at the sterile white walls, the rows of jars full of strange substances, the low bed with… She shuddered. “Are those… _drills_?”

“Yes.” Nyota’s voice was flat, completely devoid of emotion. “You did ask about Thought Reassignment. This is where it’s done.”

Lumen made a low crackling sound, his color fading.

“How?” Hadley’s voice was almost inaudible.

Nyota’s calm voice was horribly jarring against her words. She knew she should be feeling the same horror and pity she saw in her crew’s faces. All she felt was guilt and revulsion, and even that was stifled by the mask. “It’s just drugs for quiet dissidents. The bed is for traitors. They’re always found guilty. The soldiers strap them down, then the drill turns on…” She stopped, seeing Hadley’s expression, and shook her head. “It’s unpleasant.” Her words were a little more clipped than usual.

“Captain Saimiri, how did you find out?” Oldarva’s voice shook as she borrowed SAIL’s intercom.

“I’ve seen it done,” Nyota said, turning away. “I have seen what happens to people after. The Miniknog tells them it’s for their own good. They do not remember afterward, but you can always tell. It’s the twitchy ones. …That would have been my fate, and all of yours, if we’d been caught.”

Lumen’s expression shifted from dull shock to seething, roiling fury. “I’d like to see ‘em try,” he crackled, hand on his pistol. “I’d give ‘em a good taste of hell.”

Nyota had never seen him angry before. It almost made her smile, but she couldn’t, not here. “You would die trying,” she told him. “No one wins. Not against the Miniknog. I’ve seen that too. The rebels have… shifted things, but…” She shook her head. She didn’t want another false hope.

“Your people, they just… put up with this?” Hadley gestured helplessly around them. The simple vials they’d found earlier seemed so much more terrifying now.

“That’s how it’s always been for us. Most of them don’t know. They’re… like children. No one’s really sure how long ago the Miniknog took power, but everything Apex are taught comes from them. We were taught that Big Ape and his Miniknog keep us safe. They tell us the Resistance is the real villain. Some find out, though. A friend, a family member, gone one night, then back again, but changed. Who was it for you, Oldarva?” she asked. “Who did they take?”

“My brother.” There was a long pause. “He… made a careless remark.”

“I’m sorry.” There was nothing else she could say.

Nyota walked back over to the drone rig, found an unoccupied data port, and slid her memory chip in. The flickering lights turned green. She keyed in a few commands and watched the lights turn blue again. After several minutes of typing, she stood up and collected the chip again. “There. Lumen, Hadley, it’s time to go.” She was grateful that no one asked questions until they were back on the ship.

**

Oldarva was waiting for them when they returned to the ship. “I want to apologize for putting you in danger,” she said. “I knew, but I asked anyway, and I shouldn’t… If the Miniknog finds me with you—”

“It’s alright, Oldarva,” Nyota interrupted. “The Miniknog won’t be looking for you.”

“W-what?” The other Apex stared at her, her eyes wide and incredulous. “But by now they’re sure to have noticed I’m gone!”

Nyota shook her head. “They don’t even know you exist now. That’s what I needed the computer for. I needed direct access to their system.” She held out the memory chip. “There’s a program on this that borrows the Miniknog censoring system. It’s wiped all mention of you from every database in their system and modified related files to remove suspicion. Faking your own death is a common way out, but they investigate those. This way, there’s nothing to investigate. I appreciate the quiet life you’ve let, by the way,” she added. “It made the manual part much simpler.”

To say Oldarva was dumbstruck would have been an understatement. “I… Thank you,” she whispered as soon as she found her voice again. “This… this is a huge… I can never repay this. Are you sure it will work?”

“I’m sure,” Nyota told her. “It worked for me six years ago.”

_You’re nowhere near as high-profile as I was._

“Now then,” she said, heading for SAIL and gesturing for Oldarva to follow her, “you have two options on where to go. You can’t go home. I don’t think you want to. From here, I can drop you off somewhere safe like the Outpost and let you start a new life, or you can join my crew.”

“You _want_ me to join you?” Oldarva sounded astonished, incredulous, and hopeful all at once. “But I can’t fight… I’ve never even held a gun.”

“I know. You don’t hold yourself like someone who’s had to fight for their life. But there’s a lot more to life than fighting.”

“Well… I’m good at sewing,” Oldarva offered. “I know it’s not much, but it’s something?”

“Can ya do pockets?” Lumen asked, ducking through the door to join them.

“What? Of course! Pockets are easy.” Oldarva smiled, looking a lot more relaxed than she’d been so far.

The Novakid fizzed happily. “Yee-haw! Can we keep her?”

Nyota smiled, shaking her head. “Ask her yourself, Lumen.”

Lumen looked expectantly at Oldarva, who laughed. “I’d love to stay! I’ve never had anyone _ask_ for me before. What do I need to do?”

Nyota tapped SAIL’s screen. “Not much. There’s a spare uniform in the locker, but you’re welcome to modify it as you please. I just have to log you in the system so you can open all the doors and use the teleporter.”

“I don’t want to use that again.” Oldarva’s face turned slightly green at the thought of it. She watched as Nyota typed in the final details. “Is that your crew? Can I meet them?”

Lumen hummed, poking a tiny speaker clipped to his collar. “About that… Captain, I just got word from Sonny. She ‘n Namina’re done minin’. Also, she said they found an Apex camp, but it ain’t Miniknog.”

“What?” Nyota looked up, sliding the keyboard away. “Can she describe it?”

He tilted his head to one side, sparks flickering behind his brand. “Lotsa barbed wire, crates, and soldiers. She ain’t near it now, so don’t expect a—what?” His color darkened, sparks flaring brighter. “Captain, they’ve got trouble!”

Nyota ran for the teleporter, grabbing a spare scarf and clip for her gun. “Where are they?”

“Not far from the landing site, I dunno what else. Lost touch.” Lumen kept close behind her, fear showing through his wild flickering. “Heard Sonny holler and the line went dead.”

“Right. Hadley, rescue mission.” She started typing coordinates into the teleporter. A few seconds later, she was shaking snow out of her hair on an unfamiliar world.


	41. Muhlifain Morass

“Captain! Lightsss-friend! Thisss way!” Namina’s low hiss greeted them a few minutes later. He waved at them from a small hole in a mound of ice, keeping a wary eye on the frozen world. A sap-stained bandage was just visible above his collar.

Nyota ducked into what looked like a makeshift bunker. There were two strangers in there, a human and an Apex in non-regulation armor. She was suddenly glad she had taken the precaution of hiding her face. “It’s good to see you,” she said to her crewmates, instinct telling her to keep her voice low. “What happened?”

“Ambush,” the Floran snarled. He indicated the human. “Bad luck. Found thiss one and got ssome metal from him, then banditsss. Nasssty bandits. Chasssed them off, but leader’s ssstill alive.”

“We gave him a real spookin’, though,” Sonny said, laughing quietly. She was leaning against the wall, her glow much dimmer than usual. “Turns out them core fragments ya find sometimes, they make a real grand bang if ya shoot ‘em just right.” She made a pistol gesture, brightening briefly.

The human offered Nyota a small smile and a handshake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, though I guess this isn’t a good time for first meetings. Are you Captain Saimiri? Your crew spoke highly you.  My name’s Arjun, and this is Geo. We owe your friends our lives. If it wasn’t for Namina’s skill and Sonny’s quick thinking, I don’t think we’d have made it back here. I’m sorry for the trouble we got them into.”

“It ain’t trouble, Arjun,” Sonny grumbled. “I’ll be fine.”

“Fine?” Lumen knelt beside her, the clouding in his plasma expressing something between fear and exasperation. “Sonny, yer arm’s gone!”

She tried to wave him off without much success. “I’ll _be_ fine,” she insisted. “Hurts worse ‘n them scorpions did, but Arjun stuck a nanowrap on so I’m not gonna vent out. Just gotta wait until I’m stable enough to fix it. Gonna be slow on that,” she added, dimming a little. “I’m plumb tuckered out.”

“You can regrow limbs? You Novakid have it lucky,” Hadley remarked.

Lumen made a low rasping noise, rummaging through his medical kit. “ _Sonny’s_ lucky. Most of us don’t survive losin’ a limb long enough to stabilize,” he said, passing a bottle to his friend. “Drink that, an’ don’t bellyache about the taste.”

“We need to get you somewhere safer,” Nyota said. She turned to Geo. “From your armor, am I correct in assuming you are part of the Resistance?”

Geo nodded. “Yes. Arjun is a friend of ours. We look after our own.” He glanced at the Matter Manipulator on her belt. “You are a Protector?”

“I was, before the Earth…” She gestured at the entrance. “What’s your take on the situation?”

The other Apex frowned. “It’s not good. Your Floran is a good shot, but he and I were both injured in the initial ambush. Sonny’s ploy with the core fragments took out several of them, but we do not have any more of them, and I do not think she’s up to pulling it off again. The bandit leader swore vengeance. He will be back soon. He will strike if we leave the cave.”

“Understood. We have to kill him first, then. Lumen, if Sonny is stable enough to be moved, get her and Namina out of the line of fire. Geo, it would be best if you joined them, in case a bandit gets past us. Hadley, you’re with me.”

Geo saluted and retreated to the back of the icy cave, settling into a corner where he could see without being seen. Nyota found herself very grateful for the military efficiency of the Resistance soldier as she pulled out her rifle and settled into a good hiding place. _Now we wait._

She didn’t have to wait long.

**

She heard the shriek of the rocket a split second before it hit. The ground shook, icy stalactites plummeting down. Nyota braced herself, trying to stay out of sight. She could barely hear her own voice as she called orders to Hadley.

“Captain! I see four of them!” Hadley’s voice sounded strange and muffled to her damaged ears. “No, six! Bossman has a bazooka!”

“Had.” Nyota saw the gleam of red light and fired. The second rocket went far off target. Dark shapes moved across the snow. Another shot sent one sprawling and the rest scrambling for cover. Return fire forced Nyota to retreat to Hadley’s position. She stowed the rifle, pulling out her spear. “We can’t let them past.”

Hadley nodded, drawing her sword as the first ones got too close. “Yes, ma’am.”

The next ten seconds were blood, snow, and chaos. Bandit leapt at her—one strike. Whirl the spear, hurl poison into their ranks. Fall back. Snow filled her eyes. Shouts filled her ears. Smoke filled her nose. Blood stung her mouth. She felt Hadley at her back, felt the bandits retreat. Too far. Something was wrong.

“Bet you thought I had just one, ape!” Their leader’s laugh, the shriek of a rocket.

“Nyota!” Six shots, faster than anything. The rocket exploded in the air. The bandit screamed in fury.

“Lumen! Great timing,” Hadley called.

The medic dropped down beside them, reloading his revolver. “Thank me later,” he said. “He’s still armed.”

The leader threw the damaged launcher aside, pulling out a rifle. “Novakid!” he shouted. “Was that your friend we got? She dead yet?”

Lumen hissed, flickering like wildfire. “I’ll make you dance, partner.”

The bandits surged forward again. Nyota ducked one, kicked hard. She dropped his ally as he went down. Hadley darted right as one grabbed at her, slashed once. Lumen picked off the first as he went for his gun, then hit another in the wrist. The bandit dropped her sword, howling. Nyota’s spear silenced her. A bullet whizzed past the Apex’s head, scoring a thin line down her cheekbone. She ducked back, trying to find the shooter, but Lumen moved faster. He heard the shot, turned and fired. His last four bullets made sure the bandit leader wouldn’t point a gun at his captain again.

“Phew! Remind me never to make you mad,” Hadley laughed. “You’re a scary-good shot!”

Lumen sighed, the angry red glow fading from his brand. “It ain’t anythin’ special,” he muttered. “Ya took down yer man, I took down mine.”

Nyota looked up from counting bodies. “Hold up, where’s the last—”

“Lumen!” Sonny shouted from the back of the cave. “Watch out!”

Lumen stumbled as a thrown knife clipped his neck, sending a short jet of plasma hissing into the freezing air. He whirled, one hand pressed to the wound to stop the leak, revolver pointed at the last bandit. Something clicked, metal on metal. He gave a short grunt of pain as the gun slipped from his fingers. The bandit grinned.

Nyota had never heard a Novakid scream before. Electricity coursed through him, making him flicker wildly as thin cracks ruptured the membrane, sealing a second later only to open somewhere else. Sound alone wasn’t enough for the sheer agony in his voice. She could _feel_ it in her bones. The sound warped as his brand began to fracture under the strain, the dart clipped to it sending waves of energy along his body. _Don’t think._ She ran toward him, her dagger slicing the wire that connected the dart to the bandit’s rifle. The sparks singed her hands, but she didn’t notice. Lumen hit the ice with a dull groan, shuddering as the last of the electricity raked its fingers through him.

The bandit laughed. “That’s what you get! That’s what you get!” she crowed. “You kill our chief, I kill all of you! I know what happens when Novakid die!” She took aim at Nyota, who stood her ground. Lumen wouldn’t last another shot.

The shot never came. The bandit’s expression shifted briefly from malice to surprise as she slumped sideways into the snow. Hadley spat, flicking blood off her blade. “Careless scum. Captain! How’s our Nova?”

Heat rolled off the fallen Novakid as Nyota knelt beside him. Lumen had lost consciousness, his glow painfully bright and almost devoid of color. The gouge along his throat had sealed up, but even with the electricity gone, slender cracks still split across his body, scorching his shirt and scarring the ice. She had no idea what to do. Her classes at the Protectorate, her earlier lessons, those dealt with organic beings. How did you heal a person made of living light?

“He’s overloaded,” Sonny rasped. She was leaning heavily on the cave wall, her color and light dim. Her last few steps were more falling than walking as she joined Nyota beside her friend. A low static hum shook her voice; Nyota realized that the green Novakid was crying. “His body’s tryin’ t’vent it, but his brand can’t… He ain’t gonna last much longer like this,” she whispered. “Y’all should run. It’s gonna be a grand show. Like a sun—we go supernova when… when we die.”

“Hadley, Namina, take Geo and Arjun and get clear. Don’t argue. Go.” Nyota was grateful that she retained enough control to keep her voice from shaking. _Lumen. Dying? No. There has to be something I can do… Overload. Too much energy._ A crack scorched her knee. She ignored it.   _Too hot, like he’s feverish. Cool him down. Water. Lumen dislikes water. It makes them burn faster. Lose energy._

Nyota pulled her scarf off, wrapping it around her hands, then braced herself and picked him up. It burned, even through the thick fabric, far worse than Sonny had when Nyota carried her so many weeks ago. She could feel the burns forming, so hot they felt like ice, as she carried Lumen out to the snow.

“Captain, have ya gone mad? Where’re ya goin’?” Sonny called.

Even if the Apex had answered, no one would have heard her over the hiss of steam as she set Lumen down in the middle of a snowbank. The snow turned from solid to vapor almost instantly, burying the world in fog, but more tumbled down to fill the gap. She kept his head out of the snow. Normal metal became brittle when cooled too fast. She didn’t want to know what would happen to an already weakened brand.

Nyota gritted her teeth as heat and cold made her skin split. This was no time to let pain win. Occasionally, she almost heard something like whispering, but each time she tried to focus on it there was nothing but silence. Lumen trembled in her grasp, his light wavering. Steam stung her cheeks. She shook her hair over her face for what little protection it offered. _Stars, please, let this work._


	42. Snow

Hadley abandoned her orders the moment she heard Sonny’s shout. “Sonny, what’s happening?” she asked, running back over. She couldn’t see her captain or their medic at all. The far side of the cave was shrouded in fog.

“Captain’s tryin’ t’save him,” Sonny told her. Her voice shook. She pointed at the cloud with her remaining hand. “She’s tryin’ to save Lumen.”

Namina had caught up with them and was already pushing past. Hadley turned to follow him when Sonny caught her hand. “Take me. Please.”

Hadley reached Namina, Sonny limping beside her with her remaining arm around her shoulders, just as Arjun and Geo began to hesitantly follow them. The fog began to clear as she joined the Floran, revealing Nyota sitting in a shallow pool of water at the base of the snowdrift, Lumen’s head cradled between her hands. His light was dim now, almost sleeping. Her palms were cracked and blistered, her brown cheeks reddened by steam, but she looked up at them and offered a weary smile as they approached. “I think I ordered you to stay back,” she rasped quietly, “but I can’t fault you for doing what I would have done.”

“Captain, is he…?” Hadley swallowed hard, unable to quite finish the sentence.

“Waking up,” Nyota said.

Lumen groaned, his light brightening as Nyota helped him sit up, one hand moving to his brand. “I coulda sworn… Was I dead?” he asked. “Well, I… guess I ain’t now…”

Sonny started fizzing with relieved laughter. Her brand hummed with the radio-static sound again, but there was a different note to it this time. “Captain, yer a gol-dern mad-ape,” she said, “and I thank ya for it.”

-

Seven people huddled together in the little ice cave, enjoying the warmth of Arjun’s fire. Arjun was distributing spare blankets to everyone and apologizing for the lack of space, which no one really minded. Namina and Hadley sat near the entrances, keeping watch. Sonny had fallen asleep not long after Lumen woke and was currently leaning on the orange Novakid’s shoulder, one blanket wrapped around both of them. Geo sat across from Nyota, tending to her burns as best he could with Lumen’s slightly disoriented guidance and their limited supplies.

“I wish we could do more,” Arjun said as he joined them by the fire. “You and your crew, you’ve more than earned our friendship. Seeing your efforts today, it was an inspiration. I’ve never met anyone willing to put themselves in such danger for an ally, let alone someone they’ve only just met.”

“Captain iss crazy,” Namina commented, grinning. “Floran likesss it that way.”

“Hush,” Nyota said. Her slightly reddened ears betrayed her embarrassment.

“It was very effective, but not without cost,” Geo said, bandaging her hands. “None of us got through that unscathed. If you are willing to follow me back to camp, my comrades can offer better treatment for you there. The Apex have some of the best medical technology in the galaxy.”

“You are certain we will be welcome?” Nyota asked. She could feel the burns aching across her arms. It would be some time before she could fight again without proper attention. But she also remembered how the rebels sometimes reacted to strange Apex.

Geo nodded. “The Resistance is wary, for fear of Miniknog spies, but Arjun is right. Your crew helped us, and you were willing to go to great lengths to save your friend. I will vouch for you.”

-

It was too dangerous to travel that night, with both Novakid unable to walk unaided and their captain nowhere near ready to defend them. Nyota slept fitfully, drifting in and out of dreams that were more than half memory, white walls and echoed cries. Monster screeches woke her as often as the burns did. It was nothing new. She’d gotten used to pain and lost sleep a long time ago. But she was grateful when the sun finally rose.

**

Despite the interruptions from local monsters, rest did wonders for everyone. Namina and Hadley were both mending quickly. Sonny’s arm had started reforming as a thin and brittle shell and she was back to her usual bright glow. Thin cracks still marred the surface of Lumen’s brand and he seemed a bit dizzy when he stood up (despite insisting he was fine), but his hands were steady as he checked on Nyota’s injuries. The lighter burns were already showing signs of healing.

“I wanted t’say thanks,” he murmured as he applied fresh salve to her arm. “My memory’s cleaner ‘n a washed slate on what happened after that gizmo nicked my brand, but Sonny told me what ya did. It could’ve killed ya. _I_ could’ve killed ya.”

“But you didn’t,” Nyota said calmly, trying not to wince as his hands found a particularly nasty spot. “These were from _my_ decision, Lumen. I couldn’t abandon you. _To protect our fellow beings._ That’s what it means to be a Protector. Besides, you would have done the same for any of us.”

“Well, sure I would, but…” He sighed, fizzing with quiet laughter. “Play _fair,_ Captain.”

Nyota grinned and put a bandaged hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, Lumen. I’ve survived worse than this.”

-

“So this is where we part,” Arjun said. “I should probably get back to the research post… They’ll be wondering what happened to me.”

“Take care, Arjun,” Sonny told him, waving. “We’re gonna miss ya.”

“I’ll miss you too. Even if… Hm… Say, Captain Saimiri,” he said, turning to Nyota, “I don’t suppose your crew has a mechanic?”

Nyota raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking for a job, Arjun?”

“Yes. Yes, I am. Ahem.” He cleared his throat, then took off his cap, revealing a spectacular case of greying hat-hair and an earnest, nervous smile. “Captain Saimiri, I really want to join your ship. Are you willing to hire me?”

Nyota glanced around at her crew, from Hadley’s attempt to hide a smile to Sonny’s quiet hysterical laughter. “I think you’d be welcome with us,” she said. “I’ll have SAIL beam you up in a moment.”

“You have a teleporter?” he exclaimed. “What luck!”

Namina shook his head as Arjun vanished. “How does sssilly man think we got down here? Essscape pods?”

Geo smiled. “Arjun is very excited about what he does, and tends to overlook little things like common sense from time to time. Good luck with him.”

“My crew is composed of a former bandit, a Floran, and a pair of Novakid,” Nyota replied, gesturing at them. “I think he’ll be right at home.” She ignored the comments of “ _Hey!”_ and “ _Well, she ain’t wrong.”_

That actually got a chuckle out of the other Apex. “If you say so. Please, follow me. Our camp is not far away, but it is well hidden.”

-

True to his word, Geo led them to the hidden Resistance camp and convinced the border guards to let them pass. “I’m afraid I must leave you here,” he said, stopping outside the first bunker. “I should report in. Our leader will want to know that the bandits have been dealt with. I’ve sent word ahead to the medical tents, though. They will be expecting you.”

Nyota saluted him, Resistance-style, earning a surprised laugh as he returned the gesture. “Thank you, Geo,” she said.

“The pleasure is mine, sister-in-arms.”

-

An Apex woman with violet hair waved them over as they wandered deeper into the camp. “Greetings! You’re an unfamiliar face. Are you here to support our never-ending struggle against the Miniknog?” she asked.

“Another time, friend. I’m afraid I’m here to ask your help. My crew and I were injured while dealing with the bandits west of here,” Nyota explained.

The woman’s face broke into a welcoming grin. “Ah, you are Captain Saimiri, then! Please, this way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's more to the story than just Nyota's side at this point; check the collection Parallels for sidestory chapters tied to the adventures here. I'll be linking to related chapters as they come up.


	43. The Miniknog Stronghold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The [first chapter of Parallels](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878/chapters/24241614) happens around the same time as the start of this chapter. Thanks to everyone who's left comments so far! This chapter's the start of my personal favorite "arc".

At Nyota’s insistence, her crew was seen to first. Lumen and Sonny caused quite a stir with the medic’s assistants; no one in the camp had ever actually seen Novakid before. Lumen’s medical knowledge also caught the interest of the medic assigned to him. The two were still happily comparing notes by the time it was Nyota’s turn.

Her medic, Mera, proved an enthusiastic gossip as she mixed a topical gel to deal with Nyota’s burns. Nyota couldn’t help making a slightly disgusted face as the chemical smell hit her. It pulled back more memories than she wanted.

“Ah, sorry about that,” Mera said, walking over. “I’m afraid all we’ve got right now is Miniknog stuff from our last raid. It’s quality, though, so you don’t have to worry about any side effects.”

“Do you normally make your own medicine, then?” Nyota asked, holding as still as she could as the medic applied the gel. It felt just as strange as ever.

“Yes, but most of that was claimed by the squad that left yesterday. They’ll need it more than we usually do,” the medic explained.

“Squad?”

Mera nodded. “Yes. It’s begun at last, you see. Three nights ago, Base One contacted all of us. The Commander’s going after Big Ape himself! We sent them off with whatever we could spare: soldiers, supplies, explosives. The Commander is a fantastic demolitionist,” she added with a chuckle, dabbing gel on Nyota’s steam-scorched cheeks. “Close your eyes. The fumes won’t be good for them.”

“You’ve finally found him, then?” Nyota kept a careful check on her voice. She couldn’t afford to let more than a normal curiosity slip through.

“Yes, after all these years! What a time to be alive!” Even with her eyes shut, Nyota knew Mera was smiling. She could hear the joy in her voice. “The regime will fall at last.”

Nyota opened her eyes again when she heard the medic replacing the lid on the gel jar. “Do you know where they’ve gone?” she asked. It was a risk, asking that, but she had to take it.

“Sorry, only the camp leader knows the details there,” Mera said, shaking her head. “But I expect it won’t matter soon, anyway. This is the last raid. Do or die. There, you’re all done. It will take a while for the scars to fade, but you should be back in action in a few hours.”

**

“So we’re too late?” Lumen asked as he joined Nyota near the captain’s chair. His brand was almost back to normal, his unsteadiness gone. “Them Resistance troops’ve shipped out, an’ good bye to that Relic?”

“Not yet.” Nyota closed her eyes, not liking the plan her mind was forming. “Even with all the rebels they can muster, it will take them time to get through the Miniknog’s security. I can hack my way through, but I don’t know where it… ah.” She stood up abruptly, walking quickly toward the teleporter.

“Captain? What’sss up?” Namina called.

“I’m heading to the Outpost. I’ll be back soon.” Her fingers danced over the keys.

“Need a hand?” Hadley asked.

“No. For this, it’s best that I go alone.”

-

“Elliott, I need to talk to you.”

The male Apex didn’t look up from his clipboard. “Excuse me, but I’m rather busy right now,” he muttered, waving dismissively at the doors.

Nyota flipped the wall switch, shutting both doors and locking them. “Elliott. Talk.”

He looked up, raised his goggles, and froze. “Y-you! M-miss Saimiri! I… What do you need?” His tone said something between _I’ll do whatever you ask_ and _Oh God why are you here._

Nyota sat down on the edge of the hologram display, keeping her eyes locked on his. “Where is she?”

“Where is… I do not know who you’re talking about.” His eyes shifted just a fraction to the left. His breathing sped up. Lies.

“I do not have the time for nonsense,” Nyota snapped, allowing a hint of a snarl to creep into her voice. “None of us have time. You know who I am, Elliott. You know what I can do. Where is she?”

The scientist flinched. “She has gone to the stronghold,” he whispered. “The… coordinates are in my computer. Encrypted. You will not be able to decode them without my help.” Typical Elliott. Playing up his usefulness, trying to buy his own skin.

Nyota stood up, making him flinch again, and switched on his computer. It took her less than a minute to find the information she needed, but Elliott was right. She didn’t have time to break the encryption. Sighing, she turned back to him. “Elliott. Please. You’ve seen me helping Esther Bright. You know her goal. I’m… I need to find Big Ape. I’m trying to do something good, but I don’t know how.”

Elliott studied her for a long moment before writing something down on his clipboard and handing the page to her. “I am the galaxy’s biggest fool for believing you,” he muttered, “but just this once. …I owe you that.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry.”

**

Nyota switched on her microphone as she stepped back onto her ship. “Esther, I’ve got the coordinates of the Miniknog Stronghold. I’m heading there now.”

“Excellent! This is brilliant, dear!” Esther exclaimed. “We’ve come so far. But please, be careful down there. The Miniknog can be vicious.”

“I know.”

“I hope you ain’t plannin’ on goin’ in there alone,” Sonny said, dropping down from the lounge. “Those scientists are terrifyin’.”

Nyota shook her head, collecting her new armor from the locker where Namina had stashed it. “I can handle it.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re gonna want a hand. I’ve only got one t’spare,” Sonny added with a laugh, waving her still-regenerating arm, “so I ain’t worth a hill of beans in a fight right now, but everyone else is rarin’ to go.”

The captain sighed, turning to face her. “After what we dealt with yesterday, I can hardly ask any of you to risk your lives again so soon.”

“Aw, heck.” Lumen climbed up from his workroom and sat down on the ledge beside Sonny. “Captain, what this glowbug’s tryin’ t’say is ya don’t hafta ask. We volunteer.”

“Lumen.” Nyota turned a sharp stare on him, which left him apparently unfazed. “You almost died. I know better than to try forbidding you to follow me, but… Are you certain?”

The orange Novakid chuckled. “If yer an interstellar gasbag person, ya gotta heal up right quick when ya get hurt. I ain’t fixin’ to pull any party tricks anytime soon, but I can still patch ya up if ya get in over yer head, just like I promised. And if ya need a sharp shot, I’m yer huckleberry.”

“Floran alssso volunteers!” Namina said, raising his hand. “Floran isss bored, wants to ssstab things.”

Nyota looked at them, then smiled slightly and bowed her head, accepting their answer. “Very well. It will be far worse than the empty lab,” she warned. “An active stronghold is guarded by scientists, soldiers, and whatever abominations they’ve let loose. If I say run, you run. But… I am glad for your company.”

-

“Dismal place, this,” Lumen said, looking around the flat clearing. Trees rose on three sides, shrouding the area in mottled shadows under the thick curtain of rain. On the fourth side, Nyota could only just make out the looming grey shadow of a tower.

“Floran likesss the rain. Not ssso much the gunshotss over there,” Namina hissed, pointing. “Hear that?”

Nyota flicked water out of her eyes and hurried in that direction. “Of course. They must have just started. Come on!”

A metal tower rose abruptly out of the soaked landscape. The lights were smashed, but the gate was sealed shut. _Probably doesn’t want to deal with Miniknog reinforcements from the rear,_ Nyota thought. A tall Apex woman wearing a crimson scarf stood in the command hub of the tower, directing the battle on the other side. She turned around as the three approached.

“Hey! Soldier! Quick, we need you down in the tunnels,” the Apex commander called, pausing when she saw Namina’s foliage and Lumen’s bright glow. “Oh. Wait. You’re not one of mine. If you’re here to join us, we could use you! We need a scout underground. The name’s Lana Blake, and if you want into this Miniknog stronghold as bad as I do—” The rain cleared for a moment. Her eyes fixed on Nyota’s face and she broke off with a snarl. “You!”

Lumen and Namina stepped in front of Nyota as Lana Blake raised her rifle, aiming it at their captain. Nyota put her hands on their shoulders, gently nudging them back. “Stand down,” she said, loud enough for Lana to hear her and not breaking eye contact with the other Apex. _Damned luck. I’d hoped to avoid this, but… No point in hiding anymore._

“Nyota, are ya sure?” Lumen whispered. “She pulled a gun on ya, and ya just met!”

“If she has access to as much information as the rumors say, Commander Blake has every right to hate me,” Nyota said with a wry smile. “I was one of the Miniknog.”


	44. Answers

“I didn’t believe Elliott when he contacted me a few weeks ago and said you were still alive,” Lana Blake said, making no move to lower her rifle. “I see that I was mistaken. Why are you here?”

“I want to get into that stronghold, same as you, Commander Blake,” Nyota called back. “Believe what you want, but I left the Miniknog of my own will, six years ago. If I was with them now, I would have sniped you dead before you even noticed us. You have no other reason to trust me, but I have a deal for you.”

Lana was silent for a long moment before lowering her gun. “Go on. I’m listening.”

“You need someone underground to drop the walls. I’m the only one here who can open those doors for you.” Nyota touched the microchip around her neck, where she’d saved her favorite methods for breaking Miniknog security.

“And what do you get out of it?” Lana asked.

Nyota found herself smiling in spite of the situation. _Shrewd as the rumors say. I like it_. “I need someone to keep the soldiers busy.” She knew Commander Blake would accept. The rebellion’s leader was a master tactician, by all accounts. She would know a favorable deal when she saw one.

It was a pleasant surprise when the rebel leader didn’t try bluff or bluster. Lana simply nodded once and hit the switch beside her, opening a metal panel near Nyota’s feet. “Use the tunnel access to lower their defenses for us—I’m trusting you with this.” Nyota could hear the implication there, ‘ _With this.’ Nothing else._

Commander Blake turned and jumped off the tower, joining the other Resistance soldiers as they fought off the Miniknog guard. Nyota watched her for a few seconds before heading for the tunnels. _It’s a shame we met like this,_ she thought, a bit wistfully. _The rumors don’t do her justice._

Esther’s voice crackled through Nyota’s earpiece as she dropped through the hatch, slightly distorted as SAIL tried to find the right frequency. “Looks like we’ve coincided with the rebel attack against the Miniknog. I think this will be advantageous to both them and us, dear.”

Nyota sent a quick acknowledgement, then switched off her earpiece and turned to face Namina and Lumen. It took all her self-control to speak and not run. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I should have told you sooner.”

“Captain was sssientist?” Namina hissed. Nyota had never seen that expression on his face before. It was hard to tell if he was worried, angry, or just uncertain.

She shook her head. “No. A soldier. An infiltrator. It was my job to win the trust of rebel cells, tear them up from the inside. I’m not…” Her nails dug into her palm as she searched for the words she needed to say. “I’m not proud of what I was. My loyalty was everything. Big Ape was everything. It excuses none of what I did. All the horrors the Miniknog committed then, I knew, and I… believed it was for the greater good of my people. We were the only thing protecting them from themselves.” Her shoulders shook, but her face remained calm. At least the old mask was good for something.

She closed her eyes, touching the flower in her hair. “And then I saw the Protectorate, and I realized just how wrong I was.”

Lumen hummed, a low hiss interrupting the note. “I can’t say I’m pleased ya hid the truth,” he said slowly, and she could hear the frustration in his voice, “but I rightly can’t be angry, either. We all have our dark secrets ‘n regrets.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Ya say yer Miniknog, and after what they almost did t’Sonny… but then ya saved her. … _Damn_ it.” He broke off with a sharp crackle, looking away.

“The Miniknog are monsters.” Nyota opened her eyes again, her gaze locked on the floor. “They are _monsters_ , and so am I. I can’t… erase what I’ve done. I understand if…” She took a deep breath. “Will you still follow me, knowing who I am?”

Namina and Lumen looked at each other. Then the Floran stuck his sword in the wall and dragged Nyota into a bear hug, making her drop her spear in surprise. “Can’t erassse, no, but Captain doess other thingsss,” he said, his voice slightly muffled by her hair.

“He is right, ya know,” Lumen said, chuckling at the sight of Nyota’s dumbstruck expression, the roiling frustration fading. “Ya can’t right all them wrongs ya may have done, Captain. Any lives ya took, the folks ya broke, they ain’t gonna make themselves right. The stains ain’t gonna go away.” 

He paused, catching the sudden dullness in her eyes. “But ya know that already, don’t ya? Y’don’t need an ol’ Nova to tell ya what’s up. And yer still fightin’ for it anyway, whether ya’ve noticed or not.” His glow brightened, not quite a smile, but still warm. “Ya saved Sonny, and ya saved me. Ya risked yer life for us. A monster ain’t gonna do that.” He stopped again. “…Oi, Fern-fangs, ya oughta let go now. I think ya broke her.”

Before Namina could obey, Nyota wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shirt. She didn’t care now that her voice broke, or that she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

**

“I received my earliest training in a stronghold like this one,” Nyota told them after a minute, pulling herself together. She still had a job to do. “The layout is different, but the defenses and setup won’t be. We were taught to be efficient, not creative. Barricades down here correspond to similar blocks aboveground. We need to find the controls and lower them so Commander Blake’s forces can advance.”

“It ain’t gonna be that easy, though,” Lumen said.

“Of course not. This is the Miniknog. Nothing is ever easy.” Despite everything, Nyota found herself smiling again. She felt more confident than she had in a long while. “Stay close.”

The left-hand corridor led them to a brief scuffle with a scientist and a lever. Nyota pulled the lever and was rewarded with a hatch opening in the floor.

“Captain, Floran sssmells strange thingsss up there,” Namina said as she stepped back. He pointed at the wall above them. “Air movesss wrong.”

Nyota looked up. Sure enough, the wall Namina was pointing at didn’t quite match the panels around it. A secret door. A badly-made secret door. A sharp jab from her spear was enough to unbalance the weights and slide it open. Namina jumped up beside her as Nyota climbed up and inspected the walls.

“Sssee? Ssstrange thing!” he said, tapping a symbol etched in the metal.

“I’ve seen symbols like this before,” Nyota murmured, running a hand over the markings. “There was an ancient room in a Letheia mining facility.”

Lumen leaned in for a better look. “Well how about that. Looks like writin’ of some sort,” he said. “Ain’t that a head-scratcher…”

“What is it?”

The Novakid shrugged, stepping back. “Nah. It’s probably a heap of bosh. It’s just… I _know_ I ain’t ever seen anythin’ like these before, but it feels… like somethin’ I’ve forgotten.”

Nyota looked curiously at him, but it was clear he didn’t have anything more to say. “If these are anything like the ones in the mine, there will be something nearby that can activate them. Keep your eyes open.” She jumped down from the little room and dropped through the hole she’d opened before. Water splashed around her ankles, soaking into her fur. “Lovely. Of course the switches are hidden in the water supply pipes.” She switched her microphone back on. “SAIL, how are things aboveground?”

“The Resistance is making quick progress,” SAIL reported. “I advise you to focus on your own mission. Scans show this facility is densely defended by heavily armed guards, patrolling on every level.” It whirred as it sorted through data. “My scanners have just detected another guard… And another one.”

“Very helpful, SAIL. I don’t suppose you can pinpoint them?” Nyota asked as she slogged through the water. It reached her waist now and was still rising.

“You and I both know that is well beyond the capabilities of my system,” the AI said, a touch irritably.

“I’ll ask Arjun to upgrade you when I get back,” Nyota told it. The path ended abruptly at a glass wall, but she could see the pipe continuing deeper. _Nothing for it…_ She took a deep breath and dove.

 


	45. Playing Dirty

“Floran heard metal moving,” Namina said as Nyota surfaced again, wringing water out of her hair. “Door isss open?”

“I hope so. Our door, at least. A little trigger like that wouldn’t work the ones aboveground,” Nyota explained. “Come on. The Resistance only has so much time.”

It didn’t take long to backtrack through to the fork in the tunnels again. The metal bars in their way had retracted, revealing a brightly-lit corridor beyond. No guards patrolled this one, much to Nyota’s relief. Something blue flickered ahead.

Lumen and Namina caught up as their captain recoiled, staring at the hologram as it winked out. “Captain, what is it? Ya look like ya’ve seen a ghost,” Lumen said.

“That was him!” Nyota panted, fear driving her breath hard and fast. “That…” She could feel her heart racing, draining the blood from her face.

“Steady, Nyota!” Lumen caught her arm as she swayed slightly. “Just breath slow ‘n deep.” Namina hurried to her other side, looking confused and worried.

Nyota nodded and inhaled slowly, trying to will herself to calm down. “No one’s ever seen him, but the portraits, the statues,” she whispered as soon as she could speak again. “That was Big Ape.” It rattled her that she still feared him so much, even after all these years.

Lumen looked at where the hologram had stood and then back at her with a quiet whistle. “That’s yer evil bossman, huh? He ain’t here now. Yer alright.”

The Apex shook her head. She gestured at the stark white walls around them. “He _is_ here. Everywhere. Every aspect. This… his fortress. ‘Big Ape is all-seeing.’ Like it says on the posters.” She shook herself, let out a long breath, and gently removed her arm from Lumen’s grasp. She could feel him and Namina close beside her. It helped. “I’m alright now. I’ll be alright.”

Nyota climbed the last few steps, ignoring the worried glances her crewmates shared, and slid the memory chip into a slot at the base of the large switch. A few moments later, she’d linked the circuit with one aboveground. She stepped on the switch, making it flash scarlet, and the door in front of her slid open. A matching metallic noise sounded high above them. She smiled with relief, claiming her memory chip again. “He is everywhere,” she muttered, dropping through to the next set of tunnels, “but I can still fight.”

A deep pool of water broke her fall. Someone shouted. Nyota raised her rifle as she climbed out of the basin, ducking behind a pipe to avoid the first few shots and returning fire. Miniknog.

She slid out of the way as the guard tried close quarters, hit him over the head with the butt of her rifle and savored his surprise. _Anything is a weapon. Against regulations? Regulations are tools. Use them._ Looks like her old mentor hadn’t gotten around to teaching that to this lot.

He lunged, trying to overpower her with his size and strength. _Bigger does not mean better. Unbalance._ She bashed him with her gun again and drew her dagger as he stumbled. Even slowed by the water in her fur, she had him on the ground in moments. The old excitement was back. Every trick he could pull, she’d done it herself, dozens of times. _The best downside of Apex culture,_ she thought, sinking her blade home as another guard ran toward them, _nobody gets creative._

“SAIL, how is the Resistance holding up?” she asked, smashing a bullet through the guard’s radio before they could call more backup. She hid behind the pipes again as the guard tried to retaliate. Bullets pinged off the metal around her. _Need an opening…_

“They’re doing quite well from the look of things,” Esther said. “Oh, sorry dear. I borrowed SAIL’s comms again. Have you been upgrading? It actually has visual! Not on you, I’m afraid, but I can see the… Oh my! They’re pushing the Miniknog back! Your lowering that barrier gave them the opening they needed. It looks like we can make a positive impact on the rebel war against oppression! Wonderful. Every little bit helps.”

A burst of gunfire from Namina distracted the guard for a second, just long enough for Nyota to take aim and finish the job. She hurried over and helped pull her crewmates out of the water. “Good timing,” she told the Floran.

Namina grinned. “Any time. Floran likesss being ssurprising.”

Two minutes and three guards later, SAIL buzzed in her ear. “The Resistance has been forced into defensive again. You will need to hurry.”

 _Damn._ “How are they holding up? Where is Commander Blake?”

SAIL whirred, then said, “She is still directing the battle. Scans register signs of injury. The Miniknog have activated the stronghold’s automatic defenses.”

Lumen hummed. “That ain’t soundin’ good. The Miniknog play dirty. Whoa!” He stumbled as an explosion above-ground made the room shake.

 _Sounds like one of Commander Blake’s ‘specialties’._ Nyota smiled grimly. “So do the rebels. Come on, I need a computer.”

“Floran spotss computer!” Namina called from up ahead. “Whoopss. Sscientist spotss Floran.” There was a shout, suddenly cut short. “Problem sssolved.”

Nyota joined Namina, carefully stepping around him as he looted the scientist’s pockets, and inspected the computer. “Good. This one’s locked in.” She slid her memory chip into its slot. A few seconds later, green text interrupted the blue and red readouts.

“Uh, Captain? What did ya do?” Lumen asked.

“Just borrowed admin privileges and a few turrets. Half a sec…” Nyota stood up and crossed to the grey console at the far side of the room. Her fingers flew across the keys. Something clicked far above them, then exploded. She grinned.

Lumen whistled as the red readouts started reporting on broken defenses. “Ya made ‘em shoot each other? That’s right clever of ya. Where’d ya learn to do that?”

“I spent a few years as the bodyguard of a talented scientist,” she said without looking up. A missed keystroke would be disastrous. “I learned a lot more from her than she realized.” It felt strange, talking so freely after spending a lifetime hiding who she was. Part of her kept expecting a bullet in the back, the chair and the drills. A greater part was slowly realizing that wasn’t going to come. This was her crew. She trusted them.

 _Trust. Strange concept._ Her quiet laugh went unnoticed as she started dismantling another set of defenses.


	46. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue updated, 5/24/17

After a minute or two, Nyota stepped back from the computer, though she made no move to reclaim her memory chip. “That’s all I can reach from this terminal,” she said. “SAIL, I’m transferring command to you. Destroy their defenses before they manage to wrestle control back. Do not attempt to use them against the Miniknog directly or you’ll catch the rebels in the line of fire.”

“As you command,” the AI said, and Nyota could have sworn she heard a hint of glee in its mechanical voice.

Namina looked up as another explosion rattled the lights, followed by the distant screech of tortured metal. “Floran wonderss how thingsss are going up there,” he hissed. “Sssounds messy.”

SAIL’s voice crackled out of the computer speakers, making everyone jump. “The Resistance is pushing forward again, and making remarkably good time thanks to the distraction you caused. I’m detecting a… Oh. That’s not good.”

Worry flickered across Nyota’s expression. “Details, SAIL!” she insisted as she climbed down from the computer room and used a stolen password to open the next door. Electricity crackled across the ceiling, the static in the air making her fur stand on end. She remembered these. A generator room.

“There is another barricade above-ground,” SAIL reported, “sustained by this shielded generator. I believe if you shut down the shields you can then disable the power, causing the barricade to drop.”

Nyota ducked back behind the doorframe as gunshots interrupted the AI’s voice. A second later, Lumen called, “All clear, Captain! This sneaky varmint tried to ambush us.”

“Thanks,” she said. _Careless… I should have checked for hostiles._

The Novakid shivered, looking around at the crackling arcs. “All this electricity’s makin’ me nervous, ma'am. I ain’t too keen on gettin’ shocked again. Let’s move.”

Nyota nodded. Shoving the thoughts aside, she jumped over the battery column and headed toward the generator itself. SAIL was right. Whoever installed the shields had done a much better job than they had with the secret door before. “We need to turn these off,” she said, turning back toward her crew. “There should be an emergency entrance from below. Sub-basements are always non-standard, so I don’t know what’s down there. We’ll just have to deal with it as it comes.”

“I applaud your tenacious moxie in the pursuit of complex goals,” SAIL remarked.

“Shush.”

-

Lumen felt Nyota stiffen beside him as they rode the lift down. He realized exactly why a second later as the all-too familiar scents washed over him. “Hoo, we’re in for a fuss, ain’t we,” he muttered, pressing a hand to his brand as it started to tingle from the chemicals in the air. The lingering crack was not helping. He turned his head away from the others with a brief curse as the chemicals reacted with his plasma, causing a small shower of sparks.

Namina hissed and scrambled to the other side of the lift.

“Laboratory,” Nyota rasped, covering her mouth and nose with her arm. It sounded like the air was starting to sting her throat. “Of course.”

Namina shifted nervously, not just because of Lumen’s sparking brand. “Floran ssmells meatss, but… _twisssted_ meats,” he said. “Captain knowss what that iss?”

Nyota nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“There are strange life signs down here in the depths of the lab,” SAIL told them.

“Mutants.” Lumen’s color faded slightly.

Nyota nodded again. “Whatever you see, kill it fast,” she said quietly as soon as she found her voice. “Do not let it touch you. Some mutants are toxic. All of them can kill with their bare hands.”

-

The explosions earlier must have burst a pipe. Nyota waded through knee-deep water, keeping her eyes on the advancing mutants. _Make sure they fall. Stubborn things. Clinging to life._ She did not look at the life support pods. She did not look at the thing that had once been a person inside. _Nothing I can do for you now. I’m sorry._

“Captain?” Namina tapped her shoulder and held out his hand. There was a tiny green card in his palm, its surface a maze of thin gold lines. “Twisssted ape-man had chip. Why?”

“Ahh.” Nyota gingerly took the microchip from the Floran’s hand. “So that one was a soldier once. It’s for tracking us and monitoring status,” she explained, turning the chip between her fingers. It had been so long since she’d last seen one. _Did you think too much? Did they see you doubt?_  “All Miniknog have one. It makes us almost impossible to impersonate, and lets them keep an eye on where we are. Various reasons.” She laughed, short and bitter, as she handed the chip back. “I guess I’m one of them.”

“All Miniknog?” Namina looked at her, almost expectantly.

Nyota closed her eyes, then unbuttoned her collar. She turned around, folding it down with one hand and brushing her long hair aside with the other. There was a long, thin scar visible through the fur along her neck, following her spine. “All of us. I deactivated mine six years ago, the same night I left, but it’s still in there.” _I used to be so proud of it…_

She flinched as Namina’s fingers touched the scar, but didn’t pull away. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done.  Telling them her past, words without strength. Her crewmates could believe or ignore them as they saw fit. The scar was physical proof.

“We should keep moving,” she said after a moment, letting her hair fall back into place as she fastened her collar again. Her hands trembled. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The rebels still need our help.”

**

Namina found the shield switch and pressed it, showing his razor-sharp teeth in a fascinated smile as the metal slid out of their way. “Door hisss like sserpent,” he said. “Air powered?”

“Yes. It’s more reliable than mechanical catches, especially around the generators. Here we are.” Nyota flipped the power off. The room went dark, red emergency lights turning on a moment later. “Right. Should be a way out—” Her voice caught as she turned around and caught sight of a familiar blue flicker. Her rifle was up and firing before the other two realized what had startled her, but the bullets passed right through the hologram. It stared disdainfully at her, then winked out.

“Gol- _dang_ it but that’s a rattler,” Lumen muttered, lowering his own pistol. “I know ya said he’s all through this place like termites in a dusty barn, but damn if it ain’t right creepy of him, poppin’ up like that.”

“Big Ape iss not that big. Floran _sssstab_ ,” Namina hissed. “Then feasst!”

“I wonder…” Nyota said, shouldering her rifle. Lumen’s strange analogy had taken a lot of the bite out of her own fear. She buried what was left and stepped through the door Big Ape had been guarding. Her eyes widened as she saw the size of the room, a single console and screen in the center. “Lumen, Namina, on guard,” she commanded, dropping down and running over to the console. “We’ve found it. This is the main command hub of the whole complex.”

“What doesss Captain mean?” Namina asked, joining her. He kept looking nervously at the sealed chutes on either side of the room.

“It means I can turn off everything. Turrets, Miniknog communications, robotic reinforcements. Everything.” Nyota was already typing furiously. Every second counted. “It’s bound to be defended. I need you two to watch my back.”

Red lights began to glow above the console as she worked. She could hear the crash of breaking metal, the screech of twisted machinery. She took her left hand from the keys long enough to snipe down a particularly quick drone as it made a beeline for her head, but her eyes were locked on the screen above them. _Think. Remember._ The red crawled higher.

Nyota stepped back with a sigh of relief as the last light switched on. The last drone fell out of the air right as Namina swung at it.

“Floran had that,” he grumbled, sheathing his sword. “Captain was sssuccessful?”

“Yes. Hurry.” She’d seen the camera feeds on the screen. The grounds were a mess of broken machines, the dead and dying scattered in the wreckage, the living fighting with all they had left. Drones were everywhere. Miniknog and rebel lines had finally clashed. She’d seen the Resistance commander herself trying to survive a duel with three of them before the feed cut out.

Big Ape blocked their way again, but Nyota felt no fear this time, only fury as she brushed right through him.

Lana Blake was waiting for them in the mansion lobby. She was leaning against the wall, her clothes torn and stained with mud and blood, hand pressed to her left side where the stains were darkest. She flashed a savage grin at Nyota and her crew as she caught sight of them. “You made it! Good… That was your work… the turrets, the drones?”

Nyota nodded, her hand moving to where her memory card usually rested around her neck before she remembered with a small pang of loss that she’d left it in the computer downstairs. “Yes. I locked them out.”

“Good…” Lana breathed. Her face contorted with sudden pain and she slid down the wall with a low groan, her hand pressing tighter against her side as blood began to leak through her fingers.

“Commander Blake!” Nyota ran to her side, dropping to her knees. _This woman knows who I am,_ her mind hissed _. She would kill me if our positions were reversed. I should kill her while I can._ She didn’t understand why she found herself checking for a pulse instead, why she was relieved when she found it.

The other Apex’s face was greyed and slick with sweat. “I’m wounded…” she panted, opening her eyes again. “You’re Miniknog, but… no choice. You’ve… proven this much. I need you to finish what we started, to take out the final defenses.”

“I understand.” Nyota stood up. Part of her, a large part, wanted to stay here, wanted to help. She knew better. _Don’t feel._

“Lumen, stay with her. You too, Namina,” she ordered. “Take out the defenses for me. Do what you can to help the reb—Resistance survivors and deal with any remaining Miniknog. Lumen, make sure she lives,” she added quietly. “It wouldn’t do for the leader of the Resistance to die in their hour of victory.”

Lana smiled weakly. “I didn’t listen… when Elliott said you were still alive. I didn’t listen when he said you were… worth trusting. I really should start… listening to him… more often.” She broke off with a sharp gasp, slumping against Lumen, who cursed quietly and pulled out a red stimpack. It was several long moments before the medicine calmed her breathing again.

“Save yer strength, ma’am,” Lumen muttered. “Yer gonna need it.”

The Resistance commander tried to wave him away. “I’ll be alright… Where are you going?”

Nyota didn’t look back as she headed for the stairs. “I’m going to kill Big Ape.”

Lana watched her go as the medic started examining the deep wound in her side. "Captain Saimiri," she called.

Nyota paused, one hand resting on the door frame.

"I have always believed that the Miniknog are irredeemably evil." Lana paused, drawing in a shuddering breath. "Go prove me wrong."

The captain nodded, and left without another word.


	47. Versus Big Ape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might have to go on a brief hiatus after this chapter. I'll be thoroughly busy tomorrow, and potentially without internet this coming week.

Nine years ago, she might have been impressed by the mansion’s opulence. Six years ago, it would have made her sick. Now, Nyota didn’t even see it. It didn’t matter. Paintings, bright lights, gold inlay, worthless. Meaningless. Mockeries.

She stopped in front of the black door. _No turning back._ “Do or die,” she whispered, watching it slide open.

The room was silent, empty, but just for a moment. Two massive screens flickered with images too fast for Nyota’s eyes to follow. Four projectors hummed to life, rising slowly into the air. They turned on.

Nyota bit back a startled curse as Big Ape glared down at her. He had to be at least three times her height. _This is_ him _? Just a hologram?_ She caught a glimpse of code on the nearest screen before another image replaced it and drew in a sharp breath as realization hit. _No. A program. An AI. That’s how he sees everything. He’s_ in _everything._

Big Ape roared. Nyota stood her ground, ignoring the pain in her ears. A shot from her rifle put a long crack in one of his projectors. She couldn’t shoot the hologram, but she could destroy his only way of manifesting.

The AI screeched with fury as she landed another shot. Nyota caught a glimpse of an old motivational poster on the screens a moment before a fist shot toward her face. Her eyes widened and she dove aside. The wall shook from the impact as the fist struck it, dissipating into glittering motes.

Nyota raised her gun again as the volley died down, then gasped as something hot bit into the back of her neck. She pressed a hand to the spot. _No wounds?_ Her neck ached. Tiny static sparks crackled in her fur. Then she saw her name on the screens, the words _< Miniknog Officer Recognized—Detaining Rogue Officer>. _The blood drained from her face. _He reactivated my microchip._

She didn’t have time to think on what that meant. Suddenly Big Ape was above her, hard-light daggers raining from his eyes. Nyota rolled out of the way, tried to retaliate, and static sparked in her neck again. Her joints froze. It was just for a moment, just long enough for her to taste fear.

She pulled the trigger as soon as she could move again, a fierce grin baring her teeth as the first projector shattered. Big Ape roared again, his image warping for a split second. Nyota _felt_ the electricity this time. She tasted metal, sharp and bitter. She saw the second projector whirl towards her. Her legs wouldn’t move. Fiery agony blossomed across her chest as the hard plastic smashed into her and sent her tumbling across the floor like a broken doll.

Nyota forced herself onto her knees, gasping and coughing. _One rib, maybe two. Definitely two._ Her vision blurred; the pain alone was almost enough to knock her out. _Breathe. Focus._ She stood up, felt herself stiffen again. Bright bullets sprayed across the room, slicing her skin and bruising her bones. _The chip. Electricity. Paralysis._

Her body relaxed as the current stopped and she staggered, catching the nearest screen to keep herself upright. The chips were powered by movement. Every step, every attempt to dodge, gave it more power to shock her. _Move and die. Hold still and die._ She spat, blood splattering the floor. _Damn him. Not today._

Her rifle clattered to the floor as she drew her dagger. Her left hand pressed to the back of her neck, searching. _There._ Her heart skipped a beat as electricity shot through her again. _No time. No mistakes._ The dagger bit across her skin. Blood stained her collar. Her fingers found plastic, wrenched it out. The dagger slipped from her numbed grasp but Nyota smiled, triumphant, microchip clenched in her fist. She dropped it, watched it crack against the floor.

The Apex picked up her rifle again as Big Ape loomed over her. “Right,” she muttered. “Your turn.”

Nyota jumped over the projected fists, dodged his attempts to gun her down. It was easier now, without the chip’s interference. Big Ape moved in patterns. She could follow patterns. Her injuries slowed her down and a few hard-light bullets cracked against her skin, raising dark bruises, but speed didn’t matter as much now, not when she could see exactly where every attack would go.

Big Ape’s face warped again as the second projector broke, his roar cracking and twisting. Nyota forced her battered body to move out of the way as he sent waves of light after her again. It was strange, how badly he reacted. A hologram wouldn’t show so much damage from losing projectors, not unless… _His source, in the projectors. Something this complex, it can’t go that far. Like SAIL._ Something like hope started to rise in her.   _I really_ can _kill Big Ape._

She didn’t have much time, and she knew it. Blood soaked her long hair. Her body protested every step, every thought, with ripples of pain from a dozen gashes. Everything was muffled. Her heart pounded in her ears, a little fast, a little slow. _Two more projectors. Just two more._ One shot went wide as the room spun around her, but the second one smashed its target. _One more._

Big Ape’s voice wasn’t a roar anymore, just the wild scream of broken speakers and distorted electronics. His face fractured into strange shapes, bright and garish, before settling on a pale blue. He didn’t look like an Apex now. He was just polygons. A bad render. Nyota ducked behind a screen to avoid the next volley. It was like something out of a strange dream, except dreams couldn’t kill you.

He moved too fast; Nyota didn’t have time to brace herself. The last projector smashed into her, knocking the rifle from her grasp. She hit the wall, the floor, dragged herself upright. Her spear was in her hand. She couldn’t remember drawing it. Three Big Apes howled down at her, all angles and blues as they slid across her vision. _Eyes no good. Ears._

She heard its hum and stabbed. Luck or instinct, she didn’t care. The spear sheared through glass lens and delicate wire, sending one last jolt up her arms. Big Ape’s face showed an instant of surprise before turning a flat, burning blue. Nyota could just make out a distorted error message before the last projector exploded.

 _It’s done._ Nyota wanted to smile. She couldn’t tell if she succeeded. The world shifted again, twisting like a bad kaleidoscope. Or maybe she was spinning? Nyota pressed her hand to the wall, clung to its stability. She fumbled with her earpiece, found the on-switch. “SAIL,” she gasped. She needed air. She felt so heavy. So light. It hurt. It hurt to breathe. “SAIL, tell them Big Ape is dead.”

Esther’s voice, worried. “Nyota, are you al—”

She didn’t hear the rest. She never felt herself falling; never felt herself hit the floor. The world was just sideways, and then gone.

-

Lana Blake watched in thoughtful silence as the Miniknog woman’s crew moved among her forces. The Floran was almost terrifying as he bashed apart the last remaining defenses, sometimes cutting, sometimes just tearing them with his bare hands. The Novakid was working with her medics, moving the wounded out of the rain and helping however he could. He was clearly experienced, if untrained. Both of them kept glancing at the stairs. They were worried.

She could see an old grandfather clock from where she sat, its gold pendulum counting off the minutes. Captain Saimiri had been gone too long.

The Resistance leader stood up, fingers curling around the spare stimpack the Novakid had left her. _In case ya need it,_ he’d said. She didn’t know what she’d need it for, but medicine like that was rare and precious. The Novakid glanced in her direction as she followed in their captain’s footsteps. He nodded once. Grateful. Trusting.

She kept her eyes fixed ahead as she walked through the gilded dining hall. A good part of her longed to burn it, or at least put it to a better use. Blatant displays of wealth, blatant shows of power, while their people starved and cowered. Blatant Miniknog lies, paintings made as sad mockeries. One of them showed Big Ape cast as the savior of the Apex. Hate rose in her throat like bile. _Later,_ she told herself. She could always deal with it later.

A black door barred her way. _I’m going to kill Big Ape._ That’s what the Miniknog woman had said. Had she meant it? Lana could hear nothing beyond the door. She checked her rifle, the last of her grenades, then reached out. It opened at her touch.

The room was silent, dead. Two screens stood on either end, their faces showing nothing but static. Large pieces of machinery littered the floor. The scent of burnt plastic almost overpowered the faint tones of scorched flesh, of blood, and she pulled her red scarf over her face to block it out. _Where is Big Ape?_ Her eyes scoured the dark room.Glass crunched underfoot. _Where is Captain Saimiri?_  Then she saw the body lying near the far wall.


	48. The Genesis Helix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a [new chapter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878/chapters/24289983) up in Parallels that occurs around the same time as the start of this one. (Genesis Helix is the name of the Apex relic)

She felt a hand below her jaw, then a small, sharp pain under her right shoulder blade. Warmth spread from the pain, touching her chest, her neck, her heart. She groaned, tried to push herself up, coughed and tasted blood again. A firm hand on her shoulder eased her back down.

“Lie still and let the medicine work,” a woman’s voice commanded.

Nyota was in no shape to disobey. She could feel the warmth spread, coaxing strength back into her body, but slowly, terribly slowly.

The hand moved to the back of her neck, brushed her blood-caked hair aside. Nyota managed a quiet rasping sound, protesting, and the hand pulled back.

A few minutes passed, then the voice asked, “Do you want to sit up?”

“Yes.” Nyota felt the hands around her shoulders again, turning her to face the dark ceiling. She tried to sit up and felt an arm slide in to support her head. The ceiling was interrupted by Lana Blake’s sharp green eyes.

“I thought you were dead,” the Resistance leader said. There was an empty stimpack beside her.

Nyota managed a smile. “That… that makes two of us. Where is my crew?”

“They’re downstairs.” She was silent for a long moment. “What happened?”

“Big Ape is dead.” Nyota paused as Commander Blake inhaled sharply, but no interruption came. “He… was a hologram. An AI. I broke him.” Breathing was getting easier now. One stimpack couldn’t quite mend broken bones, but it dulled the pain.

Lana Blake’s eyes searched her face, trying to find something. Lies, maybe. Whatever she saw, she gave no sign of it. “You were one of them,” she said at last. “And… you aided us.”

“I did what had to be done.” It was a stock response, one she hadn’t used in almost a decade, but Nyota said it with more feeling now than she ever had in her years as a Miniknog soldier. She braced herself, shifted to her knees. The stimpack would only last so long. “Can you help me stand?” she asked. “There’s still something I came here to find.”

-

They rode the lift down in silence. Nyota was still reminding herself how to stay upright even with Lana supporting her, and Lana’s face said she was lost in thought. This part of the lab felt different from all the others. It was brighter, simpler. Moss grew from the ceiling and roots poked through cracks in the floor. No one had been here in years, maybe decades.  The last glass door opened easily. Its lock had rusted away long ago.

Nyota stopped as she saw the writing on the wall of the last room. “Ministry of Knowledge…?” The words shifted slightly in her head. _Mini-know. Mini-knol. Mini-knog._ Her eyes went wide as the meaning hit. “This is where it all began.”

Lana nodded. “I’d heard stories about it,” she said. “I never thought I’d actually see the place. I thought they’d destroyed it, like they did everything else… Can you stand on your own? Now that we’re here, I should do this properly.”

She cleared her throat, folding her arms behind her back, her voice steady and solemn. “You’ve done well, soldier. Thanks to you, this was all worth it. Because of you, this stronghold has fallen, and…” She stopped, eyeing a blue orb floating at about eye-level on a nearby pedestal. “…What is this thing? This glowing thing is very distracting…”

Nyota laughed. She couldn’t help it. It made her abused ribs ache even through the numbing medicine and ended painful coughing, but she didn’t care. Commander Lana Blake, terror of the Miniknog, one of the finest tacticians in history, the woman who’d just saved her life, sidetracked mid-speech by a shiny bauble. “I’m sorry,” she gasped as soon as she could talk again, leaning against the wall to stay upright. “I just… after everything that’s happened today…”

Lana’s glare dissipated into a slightly embarrassed expression. “Yes, I suppose it is funny,” she admitted. The corner of her mouth curved into a small smile.

Something about the bauble drew Nyota’s eye away from Commander Blake’s unexpected smile. It was small and silver, two fine wires twisting together. Blue lines glowed between them, forming a perfect double helix. Arcing script decorated the pedestal’s rim, a perfect match to the runes on the Ark. The longer she studied it, the more certain she was. This was the relic.

Lana watched her expression change. “This is what you’re here for?” she asked. “…Take it. Captain Saimiri, I’d like to help you,” she continued as Nyota reached out to claim her prize. “I think you’ve earned some assistance. I have skills that might be useful to you.”

Nyota looked up at her, not sure what she was feeling right now. Confusion, yes, but at least some of it was… oddly like hope. “The Resistance still needs your help, Commander Blake.”

“They will,” Lana confirmed, “but not in person yet. We need to recover first. Today went better than I could have hoped. My men have earned some rest. Besides,” she added, looking away, “I owe you, Captain Saimiri, and you’ve got the look of someone who will be fighting for a long time yet. I’m better for planning raids than dealing with peace.”

“Don’t come with me for a debt.” Nyota put a hand over her heart, feeling her pulse beneath her fingertips. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“Then you can’t tell me not to come with you,” Lana said, a hint of triumph and unexpected humor creeping into her voice. “Elliott said you’re ‘trying to do something good.’ I’m going to make sure you see it through.” She crossed the room and fired up an old teleporter. She paused as it warmed up and looked back over her shoulder. “I’ll see you on the other side!”

Nyota pressed a hand to the bridge of her nose, trying without much success to ignore the sudden heat in her face as she followed Lana. _The rumors did not prepare me for this._

_**_

Nyota barely had time to recognize the Outpost stairs before the teleporter activated again. Namina’s eyes lit up as he caught sight of her. “Captain! Floran wasss worried.” He looked very much like he wanted to hug her again, and also very concerned that she would break if he tried.

“We were all worried,” Lumen said. It was easy to hear the relief in his voice as he walked over to her. His color dimmed as he took in her tattered jacket, the dried blood down her back. “…Ya look like hell, Nyota.”

“Thanks, Lumen. I feel like it.” Nyota sat down on the steps and closed her eyes, waiting for the teleportation dizziness to pass. She was terribly light-headed. It did not help that the numbing effect of the stimpack was starting to wear off. She felt Lumen’s hand on her arm and smiled, grateful for a small bit of stability.

“We need t’get ya home,” the Novakid muttered.

Nyota opened her eyes again and pulled the relic out, letting it float over her palm. “I should get this to Esther first,” she said. “…I need to let her know I’m alright.”

“Captain isss not alright,” Namina insisted.

She closed her hand over the relic. “You know what I mean. Help me up.”

Esther’s face broke into a broad grin Nyota, leaning heavily on the patient Floran, climbed the last few steps to the Ark door. “You did make it! Miss Blake said you’d be following her, but after I lost touch with you earlier… I was afraid we’d lost you then.” Her smile slipped for a moment. Then she shook her head and the fear vanished. “But now here you are, dear. Apex really are as tough as nails. And you brought a new friend back. I’m so pleased our band is growing: that we’re gathering allies along with the artifacts. It’s almost like starting a new Protectorate…”

Nyota smiled, feeling a warmth in her chest that had nothing to do with red stimpaks. “It is, isn’t it? I’ve brought you more than a new ally, Esther.” She held out the relic. It flashed once, a bright sky blue, then slotted itself in between the Floran and Hylotl relics.

“Another step closer,” Esther said, satisfied. “You’d best get back to your ship, dear. The rest of your crew will be glad to see you.”

-

Dizziness and pain crashed over Nyota again as she appeared on her ship. The numbness from Lana’s stimpack was gone. She felt her knees hit the floor, felt Namina’s hands catch her, heard Lumen’s panicked voice join Hadley and Sonny’s startled shouts. She couldn’t make out the words. Something sharp jabbed her arm and she drew in a long breath as the fire receded from her chest. She exhaled slowly, feeling the air move through lungs that felt more like jagged glass than a living body.

“Ya still with me, Nyota?” Lumen’s glow swam into focus, his plasma bubbling with worry. Nyota nodded, not able to speak yet. He passed her a small jar. “Drink that. It’ll help. Stop gawkin’,” he snapped at the crew, flickering like fire for a second. “Hadley, bandages. Arjun, a bottle or two of healin’ water. Check the fridge. Sonny, get my kit. Can ya stand,” he added, much softer, “or ya need one of us t’carry ya?”

Nyota swallowed. The bottle’s contents tasted a bit like whiskey. “I’ll manage,” she rasped. “Where?”

“Reckon we oughta get ya cleaned up so I can patch ya up right. Eldie, can ya help with that? …Eldie?”

 _Ah._ Nyota looked up and met Oldarva’s eyes. The other Apex was watching them, body tense like she wasn’t sure if she should freeze or run. There was a deep fear in her face, uncertainty, anger. “I owe you an apology, Oldarva,” Nyota said softly, and watched suspicion join the other three. “I’m sorry. I should have told you, all of you… I can’t even say ‘I would have told you eventually.’”

“I wouldn’t have followed you then, if I’d known,” Oldarva said. She didn’t relax.

“Here, this ain’t the time for—”

Nyota put a hand on Lumen’s arm and he fell silent. ‘ _Then.’_ “What about now?”

“I…” Oldarva dropped her gaze, twisting her sleeve between her fingers. “I don’t know.” There was a tiny sound of fabric tearing, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Nyota closed her eyes. This was a different kind of pain from the fading fire in her chest. “I can’t ask you to forgive me for what I was, not when I can’t forgive myself. But… can you forgive me, at least, for hiding the truth?”

There was a long silence, broken only by Nyota’s unsteady breathing. Then she heard quiet footsteps and opened her eyes to see Oldarva crouching in front of her, hand outstretched. The uncertainty in her eyes wasn’t quite gone, but the anger faded as Nyota took her hand. “I guess we’ll see.”


	49. Mending

Nyota tried not to relax too much as warm water ran through her hair, washing away blood and grime. The heat felt strange but pleasant as it trickled over the layered bandage and nanowrapping around her throat.

 _“Don’t ya doze off in there,”_ Lumen had warned her as he finished cleaning and bandaging the worst wounds.  _“That stimpack’ll start patchin’ ya and keep the pain down, but yer in for a rude awakenin’ if ya fall asleep sittin’ up.”_ The medic would have been much happier if she’d rested right after he finished, but Nyota had no desire to fall asleep with blood in her hair. She’d done that once before. It had taken hours to coax the matting out.

 _Not much threat of it anyway,_ the Apex thought, tilting her head back to keep water out of her eyes and trying to ignore the sudden flare of pain that moving brought.  _I’m too tired to sleep._ She almost laughed at the irony. She started to remove her undershirt so it wouldn’t get soaked and sucked in a sharp breath as pain shot through her chest.

There was a quiet sound outside. “Do you… need help, Captain Saimiri?”

Nyota’s breath hissed between her teeth as she gingerly lowered her arms again. “I think so,” she admitted. “I can’t raise my arms.” It hurt her pride, having to ask, being unable to take care of herself for something as simple as this.

A short silence, then the door clicked open. Oldarva stepped over to her, shrugging off her outer jacket and hanging it next to Nyota’s ruined one.

“You can call for Hadley,” Nyota offered, glancing at her. “It’s going to take you ages to get dry.”

“I’m already here,” Oldarva said. “Besides, humans can be funny about showers. You’d think they’d never had to share a bathroom before…”

“Theirs have curtains,” Nyota said, remembering her room at the Protectorate. It was getting harder to keep her mind focused. The two stimpacks had saved her life, but left her feeling exhausted, drained.

“What, curtains? Really?” Oldarva sounded envious. Her fingers were gentle as she teased the knots out of Nyota’s hair. “You’ve got split ends,” she said eventually. “When was the last time you looked after yourself?”

Nyota blinked, surprised. “Several months ago,” she said. Her voice was distant. “I kept meaning to ask Marcy to trim it for me before Graduation, but we never found the time…”

“Marcy?” Oldarva’s fingers dropped to her shoulders.

“A human I met on Earth. We joined the Protectorate at the same time. She was a dear friend of mine.” Nyota found herself smiling fondly.

Another silence. Oldarva’s hands moved up her neck again. Nyota tried not to flinch as her fingers moved over the still-raw gash where she’d dug out the microchip. “What was it like?” the tailor asked.

“The Protectorate?”

“The Miniknog.” Her hand lingered near the bandage before moving back to the base of Nyota’s neck.

Nyota exhaled slowly. She should have expected that one. “Orderly. Exact. It… made sense. I… liked it there, until…” She fell silent, and felt Oldarva tense.

“How did you join?” Oldarva’s tone was almost too casual.

The captain snorted. “Join? No. You’re chosen. Do you remember, when you were a child, how sometimes your classmates would vanish? You’d be told they had been sent to… alternative lessons, and to carry on with your studies…”

Oldarva’s hands went still.

“I was seven,” Nyota said quietly, looking down. “There were twelve of us. I was the oldest. Too old, some of them said. But I survived. Not everyone did. Some broke the rules. Some … didn’t make the cut.” It hurt to talk about, a deeper hurt than her broken skin and cracked bones. It was like digging at a chain that had grown in and slowly healed over. She wanted to get the chains out.

Oldarva started combing through Nyota’s hair again. Nyota could feel the uncertainty in her touch. “Whatever you ask,” the captain promised, “I will answer it honestly. I owe you that.”

Several seconds passed. Then Nyota heard a small noise, saw Oldarva’s shoulders shake out of the corner of her eye, felt the tremor in her hands. _Is she… crying?_

“Captain Saimiri, I… want to trust you, and I don’t know why,” Oldarva whispered. Her voice shook. “I _know_ I shouldn’t. I heard… what you told Lumen and Namina. You were one of _them._ They took my brother. They… broke him. When you… When you said you were Miniknog, I wanted so much to hate you.”

Nyota held perfectly still as Oldarva reached out and touched her throat. The tailor’s face was at once exhilarated and terrified. _She could overpower me, kill me, so easily right now,_ Nyota thought, holding her breath, _and she’s realizing it. She’s never had power like this before…_

“I wanted to hate you,” Oldarva repeated after a long moment, lowering her hand. “But I… can’t. You _saved_ me, and I don’t know why. I keep thinking it's a trick, but the trick hasn't happened yet and... You’re the only person here who knows what we came from.” She looked up and met Nyota’s eyes. “How have you done it?” she asked, her voice thick and cracking. “How have you lived out here, with no one to tell you how to think?” Her voice dropped so quiet that Nyota had to strain to hear it. “I feel so lost.”

Nyota reached out and put a hand on Oldarva’s shoulder, ignoring the protest her body raised at the movement. It was like looking at an echo of herself, the day her world cracked. She found herself repeating the words the Protectorate guard had told her then, when he’d followed the stoic soldier out of the room and found a broken young woman in Miniknog armor that suddenly didn’t fit anymore. 

“I can’t tell you to trust me,” she murmured. “I can’t tell you what’s right and what’s wrong. You’ll have to decide that for yourself. But you _can_ decide. No one can take that from you now. There… is a kind of strength that comes from knowing that.”

Oldarva rubbed her eyes, though she made no move to pull away. “Is it always so… hard?”

“I wish I could say it gets easier,” Nyota told her. “It doesn’t. You get used to it, but it’s never easy. I started looking for answers eight years ago and I still don’t have them.”

She sighed, then turned off the water, watching the last drops swirl down the drain. “My offer still stands. If you want to leave, I will take you to the Outpost and help you start a new life. I’ll be sorry to see you go, but I won’t stop you.” She pushed herself to her feet and shook some of the water out of her hair. “You probably don’t want to listen to me right now, but talk to the others. That’s what kept me sane.”

Oldarva laughed through her tears and passed Nyota a towel. “Are _any_ of us sane, really?” she asked. “But… thank you, Captain.”

**

It was several days before Nyota mended enough to wander the ship again. She slept through most of the first day, waking only when Lumen gave her another dose of painkiller and when Hadley insisted she eat something.

The second day passed almost exactly like the first, except it was Oldarva who brought her food. Nyota could practically smell how nervous she was. _Guess I shouldn’t be surprised,_ she thought sadly, accepting her breakfast with a polite smile as Oldarva tried to make small talk. _But it can’t stay this way forever._ So she asked a question and watched with fascination as the nervousness vanished.

Nyota spent the next hour listening to Oldarva tell stories about her family. The captain didn’t have much to say; she could barely remember her own parents’ names. She listened as Oldarva described how her older brother secretly taught himself whittling when her first needle broke so he could make her a new one, how their sister taught them both to mend old clothing with loose threads she gleaned from the upholstery, how her fiance had bought combs for her hair so she would feel beautiful. He left for work the same day her brother vanished, but only her brother came home. Oldarva left after that last tale, citing some unfinished mending, but Nyota caught the faint dampness in the tailor’s eyes.

When Lumen came to check on her again a few hours later, Nyota gave him a note and asked him to take it to the Ark. “It’s a small favor,” was all she said when he gave her a curious look. “Commander Blake will know what to do with it.” The note had five names and three passwords on it, along with instructions on where to find her memory chip and how to use it.

She was tired again, but sleep didn’t come easily. Nyota found herself wondering about her own family: the parents she hadn’t seen since she was seven, the little brother she’d never met, born a year after her Selection. He’d be nearly twenty now. Did he even know he had a sister? _Of course he does. They were so proud…_

She thought of her mentor, stern and strict, who had given her a small flower for her thirteenth birthday and every year after that. She could still remember the slightest softening in his eyes as she took it, the closest he would ever get to a smile. _We do this for the good of all our people,_ he’d told her. _Few for the many. Never forget that._ He would hate her now, if he knew what she’d done. They all would. She couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

 _Are they even alive? Do they remember me?_ She’d erased her own record, censored all proof that she’d existed. People vanished all the time in Apex society, often the victims of a Miniknog experiment gone wrong. Nyota Saimiri would hardly be the first. _They probably think I’m dead_ , she thought, staring at the bunk above her. _I wonder if they grieved._

The fourth day started with Sonny passing her a plastic card along with her breakfast. “Dunno what this is about, but SAIL said it belongs to you,” the Novakid said, sitting down at the foot of Nyota’s bed. “Also, Eldie wants to know what colors you like. Your old jacket looks like ya tried wranglin’ one of them grown poptops.”

“Oldarva said that?” Nyota turned the card over. She recognized the Falcon license insignia.

“Nah, not in those words, but it ain’t far off. She got real happy when I said she could just make you a new one, though. Namina said somethin’ about armor, too, then SAIL spat that card thing out and I plumb forgot the rest.” Sonny shrugged, laughing.

“I see… Tell her any color is fine. Could you give this to Arjun, and tell him to take it to Penguin Pete sometime? The modules are in the upper locker,” Nyota said, handing the card back

“The say what-now?” A couple of sparks spiraled behind Sonny’s brand, looking a lot like SAIL’s swirly-eyes animation.

“Upgrade modules. The ship will be bit cramped for seven people,” Nyota said. “Would you mind handing me a book before you go?”

The ship landed an hour later. Nyota cursed softly as the jolt made her drop her book. SAIL’s autopilot needed adjusting again. Leaning to retrieve it was painful, but she’d just gotten to the good part.

They spent a few hours in the Outpost shipyard. She couldn’t hear much of what was happening, with the door to the sleeping quarters closed, but at one point a rather irritated Hadley did stalk through and bury herself in her bunk, muttering something about “Dang feathered varmints getting underfoot.”

Nyota smiled and turned the page. _Sounds like Lumen’s rubbing off on her._

A penguin wandered in and handed her a scrap of paper. “You the captain?” he asked. “Tough Apex lady told me to give this to you.”

Nyota unfolded it as he left. There was only one word inside, written in an untidy scrawl. _“Understood.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Chapter 3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878/chapters/24427269) of Parallels takes place sometime after this one.


	50. Matchmaking

By the sixth day, Nyota was starting to feel restless. Her entire body felt tired and slow even after spending the past few days recovering, but she dragged herself out of bed anyway. She’d always hated being idle. Lumen wandered in as she was trying to gingerly ease the stiffness out of her joints and shook his head with an amused hum. “Well now, I’m surprised ya stayed in bed this long,” he said, chuckling. “I’ll be here if ya hurt yerself.”

“Thank you. What have I missed?” she asked. Someone, possibly Oldarva, had thoughtfully left her a spare shirt, a loose blue one that didn’t require her to put her arms over her head to pull it on.

“Hold on there, partner,” Lumen said, walking over. “I’ll tell ya the news if ya sit down a spell. Yer bandages need checkin’ and yer too tall for me to reach ‘em.”

Nyota set the shirt back down and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Well, them rowdy penguins caused a right ruckus, rearrangin’ things like that, but they did a good job,” Lumen told her as he carefully unwound the fabric. “Arjun kept ‘em in line. I’ve got a proper medical bay now, in case you or Fern-fangs get blown up again.” He sounded quite proud of it. “Speakin’ of Fern-fangs, he an’ Hadley’ve been sneakin’ off. They come back smellin’ of soot an’ brimstone. Fern-fangs was all char and jitterbugs after that last run, but he’ll be fine in a day or two once my burn paste starts workin’. Hey, yer neck’s doin’ a good sight better’n I thought it might. Ya won’t need the brace today.”

“Ah, thank you,” Nyota said. Necessary as it had been after the damage she’d done cutting the microchip out, the neck brace made her fur feel uncomfortably warm. “And how is Hadley?”

“A bit singed, but nothin’ worth more ‘n a bit of cold water and caution,” Lumen said. “She’s got Arjun teachin’ her how to use the smelter.”

 _Ore. Namina had been asking about armor._ “Any word from the Outpost?” Nyota asked.

“If by ‘word’ ya mean frettin’, there’s a heap of that,” Lumen said, a grumbling crackle creeping into his voice. “Old Esther asks ‘bout ya every day. She’ll be mighty glad to hear yer doin’ better. I know I say it every time, but it still knocks my hat off. Ya mend quicker’n a Hylotl in a healin’ spring.”

Nyota smiled. “Benefits of VEP, remember?” she said. _Close enough, anyway._

“Well sure, but… ah forget it.” He patted her shoulder with a friendly hum. “Yer good to go, Captain. Best take it slow for another week yet, but leavin’ the ship won’t do ya harm if ya don’t start any trouble.”

The door slid open again. “Hey Captain, do you know tha—oh.” Sonny stopped, seeing Lumen stand up and Nyota pulling her shirt on. “Bad time?”

Lumen made a low sound somewhere between irritation and amusement. “Now don’t you start that again, Sonny,” he hummed.

“Start wh—” Nyota’s eyes widened as she realized exactly what Sonny’s fizzing giggle implied.

The orange Novakid caught his captain’s look and sighed. “Don’t mind her, Captain. Loony as a mooncalf and fancies herself my matchmaker. Run along, little glowbug,” he said, waving Sonny off. “I ain’t got time for that nonsense.”

“I ain’t crazy! And I ain’t that little anymore,” Sonny crackled. “Anyhow, Captain, do you know that scientist fella at the Outpost? I ain’t goin’ anywhere near him, but Hadley said he’s been askin’ about you.” She shivered, probably remembering her last run-in with Apex scientists.

“Elliott?” _What does_ he _want?_

Sonny fizzed happily. “Ya do know him! SAIL owes me fifteen pixels. How’d ya meet? He looks old enough to be your pa, but we do have a bet on him bein’ an old flame …”

Lumen crackled sharply and lobbed the spare bandages at Sonny’s head. She gave a startled squeak and fell over.

Nyota actually cringed at the thought. _Romance? With Elliott?!_ “Stars forbid that ever happen,” she said aloud. “He was my ‘handler’ for two infiltrations. He went missing during a rebel raid a few months after I was reassigned. It’s been eleven years since I last saw him. We’ve both changed so much… Well, physically. I was his test subject once,” she added thoughtfully. It felt strange, talking about her past, but not in a bad way.

“Really? What for?” Sonny asked, picking herself up again. “Ow. Good shot, Lumen,” she added, laughing. Lumen grumbled something about uppity glowbugs, but a couple of amused sparks flickered along his brand.

“A medical augment for healing old injuries,” Nyota explained as she pulled on her boots. “Elliott was infamous for trying to enhance the Vestigi-Evo Process. It made me deathly ill for three days, turned my eyes black for a week, and got him in quite a bit of trouble. He never cleared my participation properly.”

Lumen whistled. “Hoo, yer people have some scary stuff.”

Nyota laughed quietly, shaking her head. “I asked for it. He wouldn’t have considered testing it on an Agent otherwise. But it did what it was meant to do, so he called it a success.” She headed over to the teleporter, then looked back. “Mind coming along, Lumen? I’m heading to the Ark.”

“Right behind ya, Captain. We oughta bring Arjun along too,” he said. “I don’t think he’s met Esther yet.”

Neither of them had any idea why Sonny started laughing again.

**

“What? You _know_ Grand Protector Esther Bright?” Arjun exclaimed. “And you’re on first-name terms with her?”

“Well, yes,” Nyota replied. “She’d the reason I’m out here wandering, instead of trying to rebuild my life as a farmer on Mimosa Strand. As far as we know, she and I are the last members of the Protectorate.” A bit of sadness crept into her voice. They’d sent out so many calls, tried to reach other survivors, but no one ever…  She shook her head, forcing a smile. “But my crew does count, and the others at the Ark.”

Arjun’s only reply was a dumbstruck but happy smile.

Esther’s face lit up with a broad grin when she caught sight of them. “Nyota! Welcome back! How are you feeling, dear?”

“Much better now, thank you,” Nyota said, walking over to her. “Lumen and the healing water you sent did wonders. We have two artifacts left, Esther. Which one should I go after first?”

The old woman frowned thoughtfully. “If you’re sure you are up for it, we need to find the Glitch artifact. Glitch tend to reside on planets with a lot of volcanic activity; they seem to find it vaguely comforting. Volcanic planets occur around fiery stars,” she explained. “Best to search there for clues. I know the Glitch are a little offbeat, but don’t underestimate them. Look after yourself, dear.”

“I am getting better about that,” Nyota said, offering her a reassuring smile. “I’ve come too far to get careless now.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Esther said, chuckling. “Now then… Oh, is this a new crew member?”

“Ah, yes. Esther, this is Arjun. He volunteered as mechanic.” Nyota stepped aside and gestured for Arjun to say hello. When he hesitated, she whispered, “Go on. She doesn’t bite.”

Arjun swallowed hard and stepped forward. “It’s, ah, a pleasure to meet you, Grand Protector,” he said. “I read your research on the Challenge Doors…”

“Grand Protector? Oh my, aren’t you formal?” Esther laughed. “Just Esther, please!”

Nyota grinned, shaking her head, as Arjun stammered his way into a conversation. “That’s not what I expected,” she remarked quietly, “but it was worth seeing. Do you need anything here, Lumen?”

The Novakid looked away from Esther and Arjun, brand sparking with amusement. “Sonny asked me to give somethin’ to the old bird downstairs,” he said. “Might stick around to watch this, though.”

“Pff, shameless eavesdropper.”

Lumen chuckled. “Darn right.”


	51. Lana Blake

Nyota found Lana Blake on the lower terrace, studying one of the holograms. The rebel looked up as she approached. “There you are, Captain Saimiri,” she called.

“Commander Blake. How have you been settling in?” Nyota asked with a polite smile. She looked a lot better than the last time Nyota had seen her, both of them tattered and bloody and exhausted. Nyota had expected the leader of the Resistance to look out of place here. She was entirely wrong. Lana Blake practically glowed with skill and confidence under the Ark’s eerie lights.

“Well enough. It’s quiet here. It is badly undefended, though. Nuru and I are the only capable fighters.” Lana considered her for a moment, then held out her hand. “This is yours.”

Nyota reached automatically for the familiar memory card before stopping herself and looking up at Lana, her smile fading slightly. “No, the Resistance will make better use of it that I will,” she said.

“In case you have not been informed,” Lana said, making no move to lower her hand, “you killed Big Ape. That makes you one of us. You are part of the Resistance now, soldier.”

Nyota was silent. She had not thought of that. She had not dared to think of it. But she did reach out and take the memory card. She clipped it back onto its fine chain and fastened it around her neck again, where it belonged.

“We’ve been trying to get ahold of the censoring program for years,” Lana told her. “You did us a great service, whether you realized it or not.”

“Thank you for returning it,” Nyota said quietly. “It… is important.” She hadn’t realized how much she had missed its small weight.

Lana regarded her thoughtfully, then started working on the latch of one of the crates stacked near her tent. “Tell me, Captain Saimiri, are Augments a standard part of Miniknog equipment?”

Nyota shook her head. “Not standard, no. Even the Miniknog can’t have everything they’d like, at least among the rank-and-file. A few of us managed to distinguish ourselves enough to earn training with them, though,” she added with a small glow of old pride.

“Good.” Lana opened the crate, revealing an assortment of colorful glassy capsules. “I’ve acquired a shipment. Are these of any use to you?”

Nyota stared at the crate’s contents in open astonishment, then looked at Lana’s face, searching for some sign that she was joking. “These… I won’t ask where you got them. They will definitely tip the tide in your favor. Our favor.” It felt odd, but _good_ , saying that. “I can’t just _take_ one,” she insisted. “What do you want for them?“

“Whatever you think they’re worth,” Lana told her. “I already trusted you with the lives of myself and my men when I gave you access to those turrets. You might be ex-Miniknog, but I think I can trust you with this.”

_Trust._ That was good. That was very good. _‘With this’_ again _,_ though. A limit. And _ex-Miniknog…_ Nyota’s heart sank as she counted out the correct total of pixels. _She won’t ever forgive that. …Why do I care so much?_

“A Mobility Augment? Good choice,” Lana said with an approving nod as she passed Nyota the aqua-colored capsule. “Your crew speaks highly of your combat skill. This will be in good hands.” She shut the crate, hesitated. Nyota saw a flicker of a question rise in her eyes, but all she said was, “Take care out there, Captain Saimiri. You’re our front line.”

-

Nyota turned the Mobility Augment over in her hands as she headed back around the base of the Ark, watching light play off its glassy surface.

“So, yer happy,” Lumen said. “Makin’ a new friend?”

Nyota jumped and bit back a curse as she almost dropped the Augment. “Stars, Lumen, don’t scare me! How long have you been standing there?”

“Not that long. Just after she opened that ol’ crate,” he said, fizzing cheerfully. “She’s nice, ain’t she?”

“Commander Blake? In her own way, yes,” Nyota said, pocketing her treasure.

“Clever too,” he continued.

“Oh yes. She’s famous—well, infamous, as one of the best Apex tacticians in history,” Nyota told him, starting to smile. “Even my old mentor feared her.”

Lumen nodded, humming. “And real purdy to boot, eh?”

“Mmm…” Nyota stopped short as she caught herself nodding. “Lumen. Just what are you getting at?” she asked sharply.

The Novakid raised his hands in a classic gesture of innocence. “Nothin’, nothin’, just askin’ a question, that’s all.” He chuckled as Nyota fixed a hard stare on him. “Criminy, Captain, ya haven’t noticed? Arjun ain’t the only one gettin’ friendly. Poor fella’s gonna get the mitten, though,” he added, shaking his head sadly. “They hit off mighty fine, but ol’ Esther ain’t lookin’ for company right now.”

“Get the…ah.” She remembered that slang from Isobu, when one of their classmates got rejected. “You think Arjun is… _romantically_ interested in Esther?”

“He sure is leanin’ that way,” Lumen said. “It didn’t start like that, but hoooo did it get there. I ran a saloon for more’n a decade, Captain. Ya learn to spot these things.”

Nyota laughed quietly, shaking her head. “And you think that I—”

“…Captain?”

Nyota stopped dead as realization hit her and knocked the wind right out of her lungs. She sat down hard on the steps, all too keenly aware of how hot her face felt right now, and buried her face in her arms despite knowing that would do nothing to hide it. “ _Stars,_ I did not ask for this,” she mumbled. “I’m too old for this.”

“No ya ain’t,” Lumen said, crouching beside her. “What are ya, not yet thirty? I’m a hundred and nine years old, Captain. _That’s_ too old for this.”

“You and I both know Novakid age— _No_. Lumen.” Nyota took a deep breath, straightening up to look at him. “In case you forgot, I was a Miniknog soldier for most of my life. She’s the _leader_ of the Resistance. She spent _her_ life fighting us. And that’s not even considering if…” She couldn’t finish that thought. “No. I can’t—it won’t work out.” She sighed, long and slow, her head sinking back onto her arms again. “I know the steps in this dance too well, Lumen. I always want the ones I can’t have.”

Lumen touched her shoulder. “If ya just try—”

“Enough.” She stood up, her tone making it very clear that this conversation was over. “It’s just a spark. It’ll die soon enough if I don’t feed it.”

Lumen’s color dulled as he lowered his hand. “Nyota…”

The Apex started walking up the steps to the teleporter, perhaps a bit less briskly than usual. “No. Don’t give me false hope, Lumen. Go tell Arjun it’s time to go. We have a relic to find.”


	52. Searching for Glitch

Nyota flicked through her teleporter’s memory, focusing on the names instead of the bitter feeling her discussion with Lumen had left behind. The Novakid had quietly excused himself and disappeared into his workroom as soon as they got back. _It’s for the best,_ she told herself, swallowing the faint bubble of guilt. _Now focus on the possible. On the present._ She knew she’d been to a Glitch settlement before… _Aha. That one._

“Whatcha doin’ Captain?” Sonny leaned past her to get a look at the screen. “Hey! Ol’ Megrez! That’s where you picked up me and Lumen.”

“Yes, I marked the old house so I’d be able to find you again. I’m heading over there soon, if you want to join me,” Nyota offered. “We’ll be looking for clues to the Glitch artifact. I thought I might find a lead in the castle there.”

“There’s a castle?” Sonny asked.

Nyota stared at her. “Sonny, they wrecked your kitchen.”

“Kitchen… Oh! So there is,” the Novakid agreed. “Sorry, Captain, I plumb forgot about ‘em. You know how it goes, out of sight, out of mind…” She waved a hand at the ship in general. “I remember this lot well enough ‘cause I’m always with ‘em, but gone a few weeks and poof!”

“I… see,” Nyota said, mystified. The idea that anyone could forget something so easily was utterly foreign.

Namina dropped down from the lounge as Nyota keyed in the coordinates. “Floran comesss too,” he insisted. “Lightsss-friend ssays no fighting for Captain. He sends to Floran ssstab for you.”

Nyota shot him an amused glance, a smile creeping onto her face. _Thank you, Lumen._

_-_

“Cassstle is huge!” Namina exclaimed, staring up at the turrets.

Nyota winced, rubbing her ear. “Ouch. Namina, I’m right next to you.”

“Sssorry.”

Sonny giggled, catching up with them. “That’s the one good thing about havin’ the ol’ Novakid memory,” she said. “It’s always as just as grand every time you see it.”

A Glitch guard quite literally lit up as she caught sight of Sonny. “Relieved. Sonny! We were concerned about you.”

“Oh! Hey! Windlance, ain’t it?” Sonny sparked cheerfully as she waved hello. “Whatcha doin’, worryin’ about me? I’m a tough little spark.”

The Glitch laughed. “Amused. You’re always so plucky. When you vanished after that thief came through, we thought… well, I am glad to see you again! Inviting. Come, I’m about to go on break anyway. You must have more stories for me!”

“You ain’t gonna believe half the things I’ve got to tell,” Sonny told her. “Hey, you mind if my friends wander a bit? This here’s Namina, he’s smart enough not to bite your folk. The Apex lady’s my Captain, Nyota.”

“Intrigued. You’ve made some interesting friends,” the Glitch said, bowing to Nyota and Namina. “Welcoming. Lovely to have you here. I’m sure my lord will not mind a few guests. He is a very jovial sort.”

The hard stone walls did very little to keep the drafts out, but Nyota found herself loving the high ceilings and decorative architecture of the Glitch castle. After her last visit to a settlement, it felt wonderful to push the mask aside and just act as herself. The wide corridors, bright colors, and friendly inhabitants gave it a homelike feel she’d never gotten from any Apex town. _But we don’t have to stay that way,_ she realized as she chatted politely with one of the servants. _We won once. The Miniknog doesn’t always win. We_ can _change. Maybe…_

A certain face crept into her thoughts. Nyota shoved it back down. _No. I said I’d let it die._

**

Sonny rejoined them a few minutes later. “Howdy, Captain. Find anythin’ yet?”

“A bit of gossip, but nothing solid yet,” Nyota said. “The Glitch seem very fond of their adventurers.”

The Novakid laughed. “Ooh yes. Windlance was just tellin’ me about some friend of hers who lost his pay to some Baron fella over a game of cards. She said he’s one of them old adventurers with a big ol’ hoard of shiny loot.”

“Is he? Hm.” Something about that piqued Nyota’s interest, but then a small figurine caught her eye. “What is this?” she asked, looking closer. “It’s surprisingly lifelike… but I am unsure as to why anyone would make this. Esther, I’m sending you a scan.”

“This statuette…” Esther muttered, the sound of her keyboard picking up through the microphone. “I’ve seen this individual before! Was it in a book somewhere? I’ll investigate…”

“What do you two make of this?” Nyota asked, looking at her crewmates.

Sonny shrugged. “This lil’ figurine sure looks fancy, I can say that much. Maybe it’s a souvenir? You know, one of ‘em lil’ action figures like th’ humans’re fond of.”

“Action what?”

Sonny crackled, frustrated, trying to describe with gestures what her words couldn’t capture. “You know… Gizmo for playin’ with! Don’t you Apex have action figures?”

“Iss toy,” Namina clarified.

“Yeah. That. Thank you.”

Nyota looked at the little figure again, intrigued. “Something like this would be considered contraband for us,” she explained. “Most games are. I had a scientist doll when I was a little girl, but my parents had to obtain special permission for that. It was effective propaganda… What?”

Sonny fizzed with a barely suppressed giggle. “I’m just tryin’ to imagine you as ‘little,’ Captain.”

-

They didn’t find much else of interest, despite pleasant conversation with the locals, so Nyota and her crew returned to the ship as night fell. Nyota found Hadley and Oldarva sitting in the library, poring over rather battered piece of paper. “Sorry to interrupt, but have you seen Arjun?” she asked them.

The former bandit jumped and almost dropped the page. “Aah! Oh, hi, Captain. He ought to be in the cockpit. Something about working on the fuel tank.”

“Good, that saves me the trouble of asking. …Is something up?” Nyota asked her, sitting on the next chair over and returning Oldarva’s nervous smile with a polite nod.

“Eh, nothing much,” Hadley said, shrugging. “I got a letter from home. One of the little nuisances from Pete’s place handed it to me after you left.” She grumbled something under her breath, scribbling in a quick note with a slightly chewed pencil. “Took me ages to decode this one. I keep having trouble with this one bit, so I asked Oldarva to give me a hand. She’s _really_ good with this sort of thing!”

Oldarva smiled, ducking her head slightly in modest acknowledgement. “It’s nothing special, just an old hobby.”

“Decode?” That caught Nyota’s interest.

“Yeah, Ma doesn’t want it falling into the wrong hands. Or the right ones, I guess.” Hadley showed her the letter; Nyota could see Hadley’s neat translation between lines of apparent gibberish comprised of characters from half a dozen alphabets. It made her head spin just looking at it.

Hadley grinned when Nyota looked away. “Dizzying, eh? It’s kind of like a game for us. Some people do crosswords. This one’s nothing fancy, really. Just Ma grumbling at me for the latest escapades and asking when I’ll be home.”

Oldarva looked up from the paper, eyeing Hadley thoughtfully. “Forgive if this is rude, but does your mother know you were a bandit?”

Hadley’s laughter made Oldarva jump and got Lumen to poke his head up from his workroom to see what the fuss was about. “Know?” she gasped as soon as she had enough breath to talk again. “‘Course she knows! It was her boys I was scouting with when we ran into this lot! Heh, she sure tanned _their_ hides when they came crawling back without me. They’re lucky my letter got there before ‘em.”

“Now hold on jus’ a high-falutin’ minute,” Lumen said, joining them. “Yer folks’re bandits?”

“Oh right, I keep forgetting you lot are upstanding citizens,” Hadley said, still giggling. “Sure, we’re a fine old family, founded by my great-grandmum. Assault, petty thievery, raids… Dunno about my dad, but Ma sure holds the old tradition. See this line? That’s her grousing about me going straight.”

Nyota grinned at their reactions. Hadley had told her after her first night on the ship. _Typical Hadley. Of course she never got around to telling anyone else._ “You said you were stuck on the last line,” she prompted, looking closer.

Hadley bit the end of her pencil, studying the last few lines. “Yeah, I don’t like what I’ve got there. Those’re coordinates, but all I can get is that it’s a warning, and that’s got me nervous.”

Oldarva took the paper again. “I think… is this Avoscript? Yes, if you—”

A sudden jolt rocked the ship and knocked everyone flat. The lights went out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The [latest chapter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878/chapters/24495345) in Parallels happens sometime after the events here.


	53. Pirate Invasion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to the 'passing stranger' for all those nice comments you've left lately! Also sorry for the cliffhanger ^.^;;

Oldarva clung to the wall as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. As far as she could tell, life support and gravity were still working. Nothing else was. Lumen’s warm glow was just enough for her to make out the dim outlines of Hadley and Captain Saimiri. Blue lights flickered below them as the teleporter’s emergency power kicked in, casting a faint, eerie light over the room.

“Is everyone alright?” Nyota asked, standing up again and dusting herself off. A dark bruise was already forming along her left cheekbone. She didn’t seem to have noticed it.

“Think so,” Hadley told her, climbing shakily to her feet. “What happened?”

“I don’t know… SAIL! Status?”

Silence. Nyota cursed under her breath. “Hadley, Lumen, go find Sonny and Namina. Stick together. I’m going to check on SAIL and Arjun. Oldarva, you can follow them or come with me. Just stay close to someone.”

Oldarva hesitated, then followed the captain. She was still nervous around the Miniknog ( _No, around the captain,_ Oldarva reminded herself, _she’s not Miniknog now_ ), but the way she took command made Oldarva forget her fear, just for a moment. She kept close as Nyota crept down to the lower level, checking around corners, spear drawn and ready. Oldarva tried to move silently, watching and imitating Nyota’s steps. Her own feet barely whispered on the deck, but they sounded so loud in comparison.

“Oldarva.” Nyota’s whisper made her jump.

“Yes? Sorry,” the tailor said. _Was I staring? I hope I wasn’t staring._

“Don’t apologize, you did nothing wrong,” Nyota reassured her. “Do you remember Hadley’s letter? She said it had a warning. I want to know what it said. Anything can help now. …Here, give me a hand with this.” Nyota’s attempt at overriding the lock didn’t work with the ship on apparent lockdown, so she simply braced herself against one door while Oldarva took the other. On Nyota’s signal, they wrenched the door open. Oldarva felt a small glow of pride for the famous Apex strength.

“I didn’t get all of it,” she said, ducking through after Nyota, “but I spotted the word _penguin_ , something about pirates. The Avoscript was a hint, flightless birds. Hadley’s mother really didn’t want it intercepted.”

“I see. Fill Hadley in when we regroup. Arjun?”

“Over here,” Arjun called. He was standing next to SAIL’s screen, muttering under his breath as he adjusted the wiring. Neither Apex had a clue what he was saying, but the tone sounded a lot like swearing. SAIL’s icon was unresponsive, displaying a swirl-eyed animation. “They knocked SAIL for a loop and I don’t know how,” the mechanic explained, stepping back and folding his arms. “I can reboot it, but that’ll take time and we really don’t have time.”

“They?” Nyota asked. Oldarva saw her stiffen and felt her own body tense with fear.

“The little feathered buggers in their saucer. Didn’t get a good look, too busy not falling over,” Arjun said, jerking a thumb at the window, “but I saw it whiz by, just like in the old movies they used to make before we actually met aliens.”

Nyota nodded. “Get SAIL working as soon as you can, or set up manual, whichever is fastest. We are helpless until the defenses are back online.” She turned to Oldarva. “I know you do not fight, but take this, just in case. Stay out of sight as long as you can,” she whispered, drawing her dagger and passing it to the tailor. Red light flickered in her eyes as she drew her staff.

Oldarva swallowed hard, nodding, as her fingers closed around the hilt. _So she can feel fear, just like the rest of us._ The thought was strangely comforting, despite her own worries about what sort of threat could make even an ex-Miniknog afraid.

“Captain!” Hadley was running toward them, Lumen and Sonny close behind. “Captain, that saucer! Dreadwing! I’ve seen ‘em pull this before. They’re gonna board us!”

There was an awful grating, metal on metal. Oldarva’s ears rang. The world tilted. She felt the captain pull her close, bracing, shielding. Something heavy slammed against Nyota; Oldarva felt the impact through the other Apex’s body, her breath sudden and hot against Oldarva’s ear. Steady pressure became dead weight. They hit the floor, Nyota sprawled beneath her.

Then the ship was alive with bursts of light, screeching voices, alarmed cries. Arjun swung his wrench and knocked something small and feathered flying across the ship. Light flashed along the far end of the corridor as the two Novakid tried to fend off the invaders with whatever they had on hand. Gunshots echoed from above and below, Hadley and Namina driving them back.

“Oldarva! Nyota! Are you alright?” the mechanic shouted as penguin pirates started appearing in the room, armed to the beak. A penguin lunged at him with a razor-edged wing spike. He grunted and kicked the offending bird. “I’m getting too old for this…”

Oldarva shrugged out of Nyota’s slackened grip and scrambled onto her hands and knees. Nyota lay on her back, her eyes wide with shock and pain. She didn’t respond to Arjun’s voice, didn’t even blink when Oldarva shook her. Oldarva felt an awful chill run down her spine before she heard the captain draw in a rattling breath. _Just stunned. Thank the stars._

A penguin spotted them. He raised his pistol. Oldarva grabbed the nearest object and flung it at him. The penguin squawked as an eggshoot bounced off his beak and cursed viciously at her. A pineapple hit him squarely between the eyes and bowled him over.

Arjun nodded approvingly. “That’s the spirit. Anything helps! Keep it—gah!” He dropped to his knees as a shot went through his arm.

“Arjun!” _No!_ Panic dug its icy claws into her gut again. Oldarva saw the little pirates surge forward and roared. She’d never tried before, but fear gave her a will and volume that rattled the floor.

The penguins faltered. Then one looked her square in the eyes, saw a terrified woman cowering behind a table and a dagger she’d never used, and grinned. Oldarva ducked his shot through sheer luck, but the air was filled with feathers and blades and the tang of blood and sweat. She screamed, swung hard, beat them away from herself and the injured mechanic. They started getting up again almost as soon as they hit the floor. Oldarva raised her dagger, shaking. _Be brave, be brave._ She couldn’t run. The captain, _her_ captain was—

A strong hand gently pushed Oldarva back. “Get down and cover your ears,” Nyota whispered. Her fingers closed around the staff.

Nyota’s roar seemed to shake the whole ship. Oldarva looked up at her, eyes wide, hands pressed tight over her ears. The captain’s fangs were bared in primal fury, her dark eyes glittering with flecks of gold as the staff’s power manifested around them as whirling blossoms. The pirates squawked and scattered, vanishing in bursts of light. Arjun scrambled away as bright petals shattered against the penguins around him, sending them tumbling across the floor. _It’s a shield,_ Oldarva realized. _She’s… protecting us._

And then, silence. Nyota lowered her staff. The penguins were gone. Those who hadn’t fled from her roar had faced the staff’s wrath from the captain and full retaliation from the rest of the crew. The last penguin teleported away right as Hadley swung at his head. She spat, sheathing her sword. “Cowardly little buzzards. Sonny? Where’d you… oh!” She ran over and helped pull the Novakid out from under a toppled shelf.

“Oof. Thank y’kindly,” Sonny said. There was a piece of nanowrap stuck over what looked like a shot straight through her leg and two fresh-sealed splits along one shoulder, but as ever, Sonny didn’t seem too concerned with personal injury. “What was that grand ruckus at the end? Captain, was that _you_?” she asked, looking over at them. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

Nyota coughed, embarrassed. “I hate doing that,” she muttered, rubbing her throat.

“What in tarnation was _that_ about?” Lumen asked, hurrying over to them. He had a thick strip of cloth wrapped around one wrist. It was smoldering. “And are the three of ya alright? I saw ya go down, and…”

“I’ll be fine in a few minutes. See to Oldarva and Arjun.”  Nyota leaned against the counter, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.

“I’m okay,” Oldarva said, offering him a shaky smile. She was really dizzy and tired now as the adrenaline died down. Her arms were starting to hurt. She looked down. Her fur looked darker red than usual… _Oh. When did I get cut?_

“Steady there, Eldie,” Lumen muttered, catching her with his uninjured hand as she swayed. He glanced back at the other half of the crew. “You three, lend me a hand, would ya? Mine ain’t doin’ too good right now.”

“Hadley,” Nyota said softly as the former bandit passed her, not opening her eyes, “when you are done with that, I think it would be a good time to read your mother’s letter and tell us what you know.”


	54. Dreadwing the Pirate

“This Dreadwing is a penguin pirate, then,” Nyota confirmed as Hadley finished talking. She vaguely remembered Isobu mentioning rumors of him, back in the Protectorate. She hadn’t paid much attention then, too focused on her studies. Another small regret.

“Yeah. He used to be nothing more’n a nuisance,” Hadley said. “Picking on downed ships, ambushing traders. Then suddenly he started going after the rest of us. Heard he’s been going after other penguins, too. The Beakeasy fellow was complaining about him chasing off all the regulars. He attacked us once… Took out one of our ships, almost killed my Ma. He caught us off guard. We’ve been at war with him ever since, done some damage, but he always just runs when things go poorly. He’s not that tough head-on, but his ambushes cripple anyone he decides to pick on.”

“I’m glad your mother survived dealing with him. So what was the letter about?” Oldarva asked. Her arms were cleaned up and bandaged now, though it would be a long time before the scars from the razor-thin blades faded.

Hadley picked up the letter again, tapping the bottom. “It’s a bargain,” she explained. “She sent me coordinates for his base. Dunno how she found ‘em, so don’t ask. Guess Ma finally believes me, that I work for a Protectorate captain. She wants Dreadwing down, and you to leave her band in peace. One for one, right?”

Nyota nodded. She was very aware of how informant deals worked. “Unfortunately for Dreadwing, he’s given me excellent incentive to take the deal,” she said. “We need to deal with him before he gets any bright ideas about regrouping and trying again.”

Arjun nodded. “I still don’t know what they hit us with. It’s going to be a mess if we get caught like that again.”

“Hold still,” Lumen muttered, wrapping bandages around the mechanic’s shoulder. “Arjun’s right, Captain. Best take ‘em out fast, except none of us are up for that.” He crackled, frustrated.

“I can handle this,” Nyota said. She took the letter, copied down the coordinates, and stood up. The staff in her right hand gleamed, responding to its wielder’s will.

“Captain, you were injured too,” Hadley protested. There was an unexpected note of worry in her voice.

“I will feel a lot better after we clip that menace’s wings,” Nyota said. Her back still ached terribly from whatever had hit her and her ribs were reminding her that they hadn’t healed completely, but the room had stopped spinning, and that was good enough. “Lumen, you stay here, look after Arjun and Oldarva. I’ll be back soon.”

Hadley stood up. “Then I’m coming with you! Dreadwing’s best known for ambushes. He won’t expect us to come to him. I owe this feathered bastard some payback, for Ma’s sake. And for the rest of you, I suppose,” she added with a cheeky grin.

“Floran comess too,” Namina said, showing his sharp teeth in a terrifying smile. “Floran wants to sssstab penguinss for hurting friends.”

**

The coordinates brought them to a burnt out ruin of a house. Snow fell around them, though the air was nowhere near as cold as the midnight planets. Nyota didn’t even need her EPP; her thick fur was enough to keep her warm here.

The peaceful silence was spoiled when a penguin spotted them and called a warning.

-

“Incoming!” Hadley’s shout carried over the sound of Nyota and Namina dismantling a penguin tank. The captain grabbed Namina and pulled him out of the way as a volley of strange, bright blades rained down from the sky.  Her armor deflected the worst of the two that caught her as she took cover.

A massive black disc obscured the sun. If it hadn’t been actively trying to kill them, Nyota would have thought the flying saucer’s design ridiculous. But she could laugh later. More penguins were appearing around them, teleporting out of the ship. Shrapnel bit through her hide as a rocket exploded far too close for comfort.

“Hadley, Namina, deal with those,” she ordered, switching to her staff. “I need time.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Hadley grinned like a madwoman. Her sword sliced deep into the side of a miniature tank, sending its occupant into a panic. “Ooh, this really is a good sword! Thanks, Namina!”

The only response from the Floran was hissing laughter, followed by someone else’s cursing and terrified squawks.

Nyota’s first volley tore chunks out of the saucer’s surface as it whizzed overhead in an effort to ram them. Her astonishment at the staff’s effect was quickly drowned by a surge of vicious excitement. She had caught a glimpse of the panic in the pilot’s eyes as she moved out of his way and fired off another round. The saucer teleported out of the way of most of the bolts, but two managed to gouge deep holes in the metal shell. 

Another wave of blades rained down as the saucer whizzed overhead. Nyota dodged the worst of it, but more penguins warped down around her. Something tagged her ankle, bit deep. Another rocket exploded, shooting up a spray of snow. She struck out blindly; the staff connected with a sharp crack, knocking the ground troops away for just an instant. 

The whine of abused engines bit her ears and she dove aside as Dreadwing tried to ram her again. Her ankle throbbed, blood staining the snow. Nyota locked eyes with the penguin and poured all the energy she could into the staff. The air around the saucer lit up red, like some hellish imitation of a blizzard.

Hadley cheered as Dreadwing came crashing down. The pilot hit the eject button, shooting away to safety just moments before the ship exploded. Nyota shook soot and snow out of her hair. She felt drained and exhilarated at the same time as the light from the staff died down and the last ground troops scattered. _He really did not know what he was getting himself into, did he?_

**

“Somehow I feel like that was too easy,” Hadley commented, sitting down beside Nyota as the Apex caught her breath . “They make such a mess of our ship, and then you just tear their boss right out of the sky.”

“The element of surprise is powerful,” Nyota said, wrapping a bandage around her injured ankle. “The Resistance and Miniknog are both fond of using it. They caught us off guard, and we caught them off guard in turn.” She smiled thoughtfully. “It does help that we wiped out quite a number of his minions when they attacked us first.”

Hadley laughed. “Yeah, there’s that. I’m just glad you took ‘em out so fast. Those little tanks hurt!”

An irritated Floran hiss and the sound of startled squawking interrupted them. Namina trudged toward them through the snow, both arms wrapped tight around a frantic, flailing penguin.

“Oi oi oi, let me go you great beanstalk! I ain’t on their side! Let me go, ya hear!”

“Ssstupid bird, lucky Floran doesssn’t eat you,” Namina grumbled as a flipper smacked into the side of his head with absolutely no effect. “Captain, Floran findsss pirate hiding in the sssnow.”

“I ain’t a pirate!” the penguin yelled, indignant. “Just a merc who got caught wrong place, wrong time, and napping. Put me down!”

Nyota stood up. “You can let him go, Namina. …I had not meant ‘drop him,’ but that was effective.” She crouched down to eye level as the penguin dislodged himself from the snow drift. “Try anything stupid and you suffer. Why should I believe you are not a pirate?” she asked, her voice as cold as Miniknog steel.

“Because I said so—hey, you’re that Apex lady! I saw ya out there.” The penguin righted himself, cackling. “Heeheehee, ya peeled him like a can opener! I ain’t ever seen something knock the smirk off Dreadwing’s beak like that. I like you!”

Nyota glanced over at Hadley, who shrugged. “He’s cheering for our side,” the former bandit said. “That’s a point his favor.”

The penguin jumped at the sound of her voice and shook more snow out of his face. His eyes brightened as he looked up at Hadley. “Wait a sec, you’re Boss Hadley’s little girl, aintcha?”

Hadley’s eyes narrowed. “And what if I am?” she asked, hand moving to her sword.

The little mercenary stuck both flippers up. “Whoa, I’m not threatening. Dontcha recognize me? We met in the Beakeasy. I gave ya your mum’s letter?”

Hadley’s eyes widened in recognition and she relaxed. “Oh! Aggy! Sorry about that,” she said, smiling again. “Long day and too many penguins trying to stick knives in my face. Captain, this one’s alright. How’d Dreadwing nab you, though?”

Aggy gestured over at the teleporter in the wrecked house. “How about we get someplace cozy and I tell ya over a round of drinks? My treat. I owe ya one, and a penguin pays his debts.”

**

Nyota had been in seedy bars before, and the Beakeasy brought back all those memories and then some, starting with remembering to duck so she didn’t crack her head on the low ceilings. “This room was not designed for tall people,” she muttered, sitting down at the bar and rubbing the fresh bruise above her left eye. She could hear penguin voices whispering about her: _“Is that an Apex? What’s one o’ them doing down in this little hole?”_ and _“I climbed an Apex once. Nice view.”_

“It was designed for tall people,” the bartender said, chuckling as he poured their drinks, “not giants. At least ya didn’t dent the ceiling. Last fella through, he bashed right through the rafters. Ah, welcome back to ya, Aggy, Miz Alice.”

Hadley winced. “I told you to call me by my last name,” she muttered. “I _hate_ Alice.”

Aggy’s story was short and simple, told with very enthusiastic gestures. “So I passed off that letter, see, got my pay, and caught a mackerel and a snooze out by Pete’s place. Next thing I know I’m in Dreadwing’s brig with two of his toughs standing over me. They wanted me to spill the beans on where your mum is hiding,” he told Hadley. “Lucky for both of us, he picked a fight with your ship instead of trying to drag it out of me right off the bat, and you know the rest. I made a break for it when your captain’s little lightshow distracted the guards.”

Hadley laughed. “And then you got jumped by Namina. Frying pan and fire, not bad! You have awful luck.”

Aggy chuckled, shaking his head. “You have no idea, kid. But I’m a tough old bird, don’t ya worry about me. Still, I owe you guys… Say, Boss,” he said, turning to Nyota, “ya ever need a merc, just grab a doubloon from the barkeep and give me a holler. I might have an itchy trigger flipper, but I know who’s top of the food chain.”

“I’ll keep you in mind,” Nyota said, taking another drink. She’d had worse.


	55. Small Steps

Arjun had recruited Oldarva, Sonny, and Lumen to help him with repairs while Nyota was gone, so the ship was nearly in working order again by the time she returned. “This would’ve gone faster if I could use both arms,” the old man grumbled, glowering down at the sling as if it was somehow at fault. “Captain, good timing. I need someone strong to help me haul this panel back into place.”

“Which of us is the captain here?” Nyota asked, a small smile teasing at the corners of her mouth.

Arjun smirked. “Since I’m giving orders and you’re listening, I guess it’s me,” he said. “Can you get this one next?”

It took another hour or two, but with a sturdy Floran, a short but inventive human, and two Apex working together, they got the interior of the ship back in order. Arjun borrowed SAIL’s cameras to direct the two Novakid on external repairs. Somewhere in the middle of the chaos, Aggy popped in, gave everyone a scare until Nyota introduced him, and started a running commentary that made Hadley laugh so hard she almost dropped the table she was carrying.

“Careful!” Oldarva called. “The furniture’s been through enough abuse already.” She inspected the couch she’d just helped Namina carry into place with a sad sigh. “It’s going to take so long to mend these. And the upholstery…”

“Floran fixesss wood thingss,” Namina reassured her, patting the table.

“I can report that the exterior is in working order,” SAIL said. “There was a bit of a close call, but Sonny and Lumen will be returning shortly.”

The airlock slid open a few seconds later and the two Novakid stepped inside, Lumen guiding Sonny. There were spidery cracks along the side of the green Novakid’s head, her shell thickened around them like Lumen’s had after the mutant grabbed him in the abandoned lab. Sonny’s usual emerald hue had faded to a sickly, frightened mint. Lumen had a hand at her back, steadying her. “Jus’ sit down a spell and ye’ll be fine,” he said.

“I’m fine now, Lumen!” she protested. “It was just a bit of space junk.”

Lumen crackled, frustrated. “Sonny. You are quite literally cracked in the head right now. Sit down.”

“Dare I ask what happened?” Nyota asked, wide-eyed.

“I got beaned by a rock,” Sonny said, almost cheerfully, sitting on the edge of her bed. “It’s okay though because Lumen caught me.”

Lumen’s irritation faded to an affectionate fizz. “Someone has to watch out for ya, little glowbug,” he said, sitting down beside her and patting her shoulder. Sonny hummed and leaned against him.

“’m dizzy,” she mumbled.

Nyota eyed the cracks. She couldn’t see any damage to Sonny’s brand, at least, but it said something if she was admitting to injury. “Will you be alright?”

“Don’t ya worry about her, Captain,” Lumen reassured her. “It’s mostly bruisin’. A bit of rest’ll sort her out. Could ya do me a favor? There’s a blue glass under the ol’—that’s the one. Thank ya kindly.” He took the bottle from Nyota and passed it to Sonny.  “This oughta dull the pain a bit and help ya mend faster. Now if ya hold still until those cracks’re gone, I’ll spin a yarn or two to pass the time.”

-

Namina joined Nyota as she worked on adding solarium reinforcement into her armor. “Floran iss pleasssed Captain likes ore,” he said. He rubbed his neck; his skin was still a bit grey and flaky from a recent burn. “Floran isssn’t getting any more,” he added with a small growl. “Almosst got combusssted last time.”

Nyota looked up at him, startled. “How did you do that?”

The Floran hissed. “Ssssome planets rain fire. Nassty.” He leaned over her work, his dark blue eyes glittering with interest. “Thiss is good,” he said, prodding the greaves, sounding almost surprised. He looked up at her, curious. “How doesss Captain know solarium but not durasssteel?”

The Apex shrugged, finishing a seam. “My education was _very_ specialized.”

-

“Evening, Nyota… Miss Hadley says we’re looking for Glitch?” Arjun asked, joining Nyota as she inspected nearby star systems.

Nyota nodded. “I couldn’t find enough information on Megrez Mass. Esther said they’re fond of volcanic planets, though.” She tapped the display, zooming in on the nearest fiery star. “This system might have what I’m after, except all of the planets show occasional showers of meteors…”

The mechanic grimaced. “Those? More a direct threat to the ground than to us. Just… watch the splash. Worked a foundry for seven, eight years. Meteors always crashing down. They take ages to clean up after, especially when one nails the boiler…” Arjun shook his head, then cleared his throat. “Here, what system is this?” He leaned closer for a better look. “Huh. Didn’t realize we were close to Tessera Sigma.”

“Do you know it?” Nyota asked, a bit surprised.

“Never been, but I’ve heard of it.” Arjun prodded the display and pulled up the fourth planet. “There. Last I heard, there’s a Glitch castle out this way. Terrene Protectorate did a surface survey a few years back. I could probably get you there,” he offered, glancing over at her. “Don’t heal as fast as I used to, but I’m right-handed so this arm shouldn’t hold me back much.”

Nyota couldn’t read his expression as well with his hat’s lenses in the way, but she heard the hopeful tone in his voice. “Rest and heal,” she said. “We’ll see how you’re doing tomorrow.”

**

Nyota rummaged through the kitchen, hunting for ingredients. “ _Ash_ , Namina, how did you manage to get the sugar out of even _my_ reach?” she muttered, stretching as high as she could. _Somehow I am sure this was Hadley’s idea._ She got a firm grip on the jar on the third try.

The door opened as she gingerly set the jar on the counter. “Oldarva?” Nyota asked. “Can I help you?”

Oldarva’s eyes were wide and startled when Nyota turned to face her. “How… how did you know it was me?”

“Your footsteps.” Nyota tapped her ear. “You shuffle. So does Arjun, for that matter,” she added, opening the fridge, “but his steps are uneven. Could you pass me a bowl? The large blue one should still be intact, I think.”

“What are you making?” Oldarva asked as she poked through the dish cabinet.

Nyota shrugged, cracking two eggs in a smaller dish and carefully removing the yolks. “I was thinking oculemon meringue pie,” she said, snagging a whisk. “Hadley won’t eat plain sweets, but she might try sweet and sour.”

She could feel Oldarva’s fascinated stare as she stirred butter, sugar, and oculemon juice together over the stove, then turned off the heat and whisked the mix into the egg yolk. There was always something soothing about working in the kitchen; the sharp, bright scent of oculemons almost danced in the air, mellowed only slightly by the pie crust as she poured the filling in.

“You have a question,” Nyota prompted as she started on the meringue.

Oldarva jumped, guilt flashing across her face like a child caught daydreaming. “Where did you learn to cook?” she asked, too rushed, her words crushed together.

“I taught myself after I reached Earth,” Nyota said, only half-focused. This part was always tricky. “No nutrient paste there. I had to eat somehow.” The whisk clicked against the sides of the bowl like rain on a tin roof.

Nyota caught the quiet awe on Oldarva’s eyes. “It’s not that impressive. I was terrible,” she insisted, chuckling as she remembered her bland first attempts and plaster-textured pancakes. “It took a lot of practice. The humans love their food, though,” she said, smiling with a faint, fond nostalgia. “They had entire television channels devoted to cooking, thousands of books… I must have spent _days_ reading page after page of advice before I got the hang of it.”

She spread the meringue over the filling and slid the pie into the oven before turning back to Oldarva. “I don’t think that was the question that brought you here.”

Oldarva swallowed hard, then looked up, making eye-contact with Nyota. “I want to learn how to fight,” she said.

“Why?” Nyota saw the flicker of doubt and panic and held up a hand. “I am not refusing you,” she said. “I just want to know your reasons. You are afraid of combat, Oldarva. You are afraid of conflict. And you come to me of all people, after all but avoiding me since you learned what I am… What changed?”

“When… when the pirates invaded, I was useless,” Oldarva whispered. Her words came out in a rush again, but not in panic this time. “You were hurt, Arjun was hurt, and all I could do was scream and flail about, like a toddler who didn’t get her way. If you hadn’t… we might…” She bit her lip, composed herself. “I don’t want to watch my friends get hurt again because I can’t defend them.”

Nyota thought in silence as she returned the sugar to the cabinet and the unused eggs to the fridge and wiped the counter clean. “I do not know how much I can help,” she said at last. “Most Apex… I know what the Miniknog… what _we_ put you through, to keep you under control. But you are asking for help, and that’s a good sign.”

She leaned on the counter, folding her hands together under her chin. “It will hurt. Muscle grows strong when you tear it and let it mend. Bones work the same way.” She held out one hand, open and palm up. “So does skin.”

Oldarva swallowed again, then reached out and touched Nyota’s hand, running her fingertips over the scars and calluses, the curves and creases. “I am not strong,” she said, “but I don’t want to be helpless anymore. Captain Nyota, I am part of your Protectorate, aren’t I? I  _want_ to protect people.”

“I can teach you.”

That was the first time she really saw Oldarva smile at her with absolutely no fear in her eyes. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Arjun said you tried to protect us, Oldarva,” Nyota told her. “I am only returning the favor.”

“…Eldie.”

The captain blinked. “Sorry?”

Oldarva looked down, her expression halfway between hopeful and mortified. “My friends call me Eldie, ma’am. If… if that’s alright.”

Nyota smiled. “Eldie, then. Go rest. I’ll give you your first lesson before I leave tomorrow.”


	56. Tessera Sigma IV

Nyota gagged as a wave of heat rolled over her. This was far worse than the tropical planets she’d been to before. The air reeked of sulfur and scorched rock. Her body felt impossibly heavy; sweat was already starting to soak into her clothes.

“You, uh, alright over there, Captain?” Arjun seemed to waver as hot air distorted her sight.

“There are days when I hate having fur,” Nyota panted as she fiddled with her EPP. Even set as cold as it could go, she still felt like she’d been stuck in an oven. “Why would _anyone_ want to live in a place like this?”

“I dunno, it’s kind of cozy for me,” Sonny called, spinning around cheerfully. She had refused to stay behind when she heard they were looking for Glitch again. “Then again, I’m probably a bit hotter inside’n most of the stuff around here. Ooh, chilies!”

“You sure you’ll manage here?” Arjun asked as Sonny darted over to collect some of the bright red peppers. “If I’m feeling the heat, it must be awful for you.”

“I will adapt,” Nyota said as she shrugged off her over-shirt and stowed it. She hated having bare arms; living around humans for five years had left her acutely aware of just how comparatively hairy Apex were. But this was not a good time for self-consciousness. Her armor would have to be enough.

Ash fell thick and hard around them as they traveled west. Nyota gave up trying to shake it out of her hair after a while; the weight was enough to drag it out before it set, at least. Arjun had to stop occasionally and knock it off his hat. Sonny danced ahead, dodging geysers and snagging any chilies she spotted. Ash flakes stuck to her, hardening into a kind of glass that she shook off with an almost musical clicking. Watching the Novakid play made Nyota forget the oppressive heat, at least a little. “Be careful, Sonny,” she called, unable to hide a smile.

“I _am_ being—hey, there’s a building here,” Sonny called back. “Wonder what—whoa!” She dropped flat and scrambled back as a javelin whizzed over her head. “Heads up! Er, down. Yikes!”

Falling ash turned to falling flame as the three fought off bone-clad hunters. Nyota hissed as an ember caught in her fur and smothered it against the wall before it could spread. But the sparks were falling too fast now; the very air was alight. The hunters shrieked and fled as their small fort went up in flames. Sonny grabbed Arjun with one hand, Nyota with the other. “Come on! Run!”

They hid in a small cave as embers rained down outside. Nyota’s cloak covered the entrance and kept the smoke out as the fort smoldered into ruins. “This sure brings back memories,” Arjun said, chancing a peek outside. “It should pass in a few minutes.”

“It’d be real purdy if it didn’t set everythin’ else on fire,” Sonny remarked as she applied salve to minor burns on Nyota’s arm and shoulder where she hadn’t managed to put the sparks out fast enough. “Wonder what those spikey goons were thinkin’, makin’ their house of wood in a place like this.”

Now that the initial danger was over, Nyota was actually enjoying the sight of the embers, much to her own surprise. “It reminds me of fireflies,” she said. “I haven’t seen any since Earth.” The quiet crackling of the burned fort was strangely calming.

Sonny giggled. “These’re real literal fireflies, Captain.”

They set out again when the firestorm faded. Sonny caught a little skittering bone crab by coaxing it out of its crevice with chilies. “I’m namin’ him Jim!” she told Nyota proudly as she held up her new pet.

Nyota forced a smile. “Sonny, Jim is wearing an Apex skull.”

“Eh? Oh.” Sonny dimmed a bit. “Sorry, Captain. Should I let him go?”

“I don’t mind him,” Nyota said, her smile turning genuine as she held out her hand and the little critter skittered up her arm. It tickled. “Just, ah… do not show him to Eldie.” She handed Jim back. “Arjun, are we getting—” She stopped as she noticed Arjun’s expression. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t believe it,” the mechanic muttered, removing his hat and checking the lenses for damage before looking again. “Captain, there’s an RV over there.”

**

“Hey! Visitors!” An orange-haired man waved at Nyota’s crew. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen anyone friendly. You wanna stick around a bit?”

Nyota glanced at the sky; it was hard to tell with the constant red lava glow brightening the lowest clouds, but she was pretty sure it was getting close to nightfall. “If we’re not imposing,” she said. “I admit, I had not expected to find humans out here.”

The man grinned. “Yeah. In all fairness to you, though, we didn’t exactly intend to end up here. We got lost and needed to resupply, then just kind of decided to stick around. Hang on… Is that a Matter Manipulator you’ve got?” His grin widened, actually reaching his eyes. “Nice to see someone from the Protectorate. How’d you get away?”

“Luck, really,” Nyota said quietly. “I do not remember much, just the sounds and…” She shook her head and looked away.

The man’s expression turned sad. “You were in the thick of it, huh? I didn’t know anyone had gotten out of the middle. We were miles away when the evacuation order went out. Tentacle monsters, though, who’d’ve thought…”

Nyota shuddered. _Horrible red mass, smoke and fire, stink of blood, of bile, feet pounding on steel, dead dead dead all —_ Sonny’s hand on her elbow and Arjun touching her shoulder snapped her back to the present. “Sorry,” she whispered, gripping her wrist tightly to stop her hands from trembling. “It’s been a while since I thought about it.”

“Oh. You get the nightmares, then?” the human asked, looking embarrassed. “Uh… Yeah, sorry about that. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. Good news, though! We’ve heard rumors lately that someone’s working on killing that thing! No idea how they’ll do it, but there’s still hope, right?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Nyota smiled, though her heart wasn’t in it. “Please excuse me.”

-

“You okay there, Nyota?”

Nyota looked up as Arjun walked over. She gave him that same brittle smile she’d given the man from earlier. “Yes, I—” She checked herself, swallowed the lie. “I could be better.”

“At least you can admit it.” Arjun sat down beside her and passed her a bottle of water. “I sent Sonny to go play with the humans. She was a bit worried about you. It takes a lot to worry our Sonny.”

The Apex sighed, seeming to almost literally deflate. “I’m sorry… I was not ready for that. It has been so long, but he mentioned it and I—I was not _here_ anymore.” The water sloshed inside the bottle. Her hands were shaking again.

Arjun nodded and pulled off his hat, running a hand through his eternally unkempt grey hair. “You don’t have to apologize, ma’am. I know. Didn’t realize you were _there_ for Earth, but… It was a lot like that for me, after the Foundry.” He turned his arm over so she could see the long, knotted scar running almost from his wrist to his elbow, its edges uneven from the burns that had marred it more than a decade ago. “Nothing I could have done. Nothing any of us could have done. We were damned helpless. A meteor got the main boiler. Worked there for years. I left after that. Had to. Couldn’t stand seeing the place, remembering how it had been, who had worked there.”

Nyota froze. “You told me about this,” she said slowly. “Last night, on the ship. … _Stars,_ Arjun, I—”

“Don’t start apologizing,” the mechanic interrupted, and she fell silent. “It was years ago. That’s the good part. It does heal. Like the physical scars,” he said, tapping the old gash. “Gnarled and knotted up, but the hurt’s not fresh. Nothing either of us could have done, Nyota, that’s the truth. It’ll haunt us.” He took a swig from his own water bottle and looked up at the smoke-drowned stars. “I was a bit selfish, asking to come here,” he admitted. “Not mended yet, know I slowed you down in that last fight. I wanted to face it. Needed to know if I could come to the fire worlds again.”

Nyota studied him. “Are _you_ alright, Arjun?”

Arjun shrugged. “I’m still here, at least. Couldn’t have done it alone, though. I see you and that bright spark, I can face it.” He pulled his cap back on. "You don’t have to take it alone, is what I’m trying to say.”

The captain regarded him for a long moment. “And you think I can face this?”

Arjun smiled a little, like a teacher amused by a foolish question. “Would you be grabbing these relic things to face that monster again if you weren’t trying?”

Nyota nodded slowly. She took a sip from the water bottle and passed it back. “Thank you, Arjun. I think I needed that.”

“I’m an old man, Captain,” Arjun told her. “No point living through all that if I can’t pass it on, eh?”

Nyota watched him go. She had thought to ask, _do you remember them?_ She didn’t need to now. She knew the answer already, from the pain she’d read in his clenched hands, the tightness of his jaw. Her hand found the flower in her hair and pulled it free, twirling it absently between her fingers. How it had survived everything she’d been through, she did not know, but she was grateful for that small miracle. Watching the petals sway, she was on Earth again, sitting under the Tree. She could almost smell the breeze, feel the familiar warmth and light sitting beside her… but when she looked over, the feeling vanished. Nothing but barren, dead rocks.

She slept badly that night, her dreams spent searching for something that would not be found.


	57. Caps and Castles

Nyota collected Sonny the next morning. The Novakid was sitting at a picnic table, playing cards with a few of the off-duty guards and a bored insomniac. They’d attracted a small crowd of fascinated onlookers, who cheered as she dropped her cards with a satisfied hum. The other players showed their hands and Sonny’s glow brightened as Jim skittered across the table, scooting the brightly-colored rocks they were using in place of chips over into Sonny’s already-impressive stash. One of the guards grinned and flicked her a bottle cap, which earned a delighted shriek of laughter.

“Captain, there you are! Look!” she exclaimed, holding the cap up. “It’s an ol’ Reefcola cap! They don’t make these anymore. I’ve been tryin’ to find one for ages! Can you believe they’ve got Horsehead Hold ‘Em all the way out here? Except they call it Texas Hold ‘Em. What’s a Texas?”

Nyota smiled, the last shards of her darker memories melting under Sonny’s happy radiance. _So that’s what Arjun meant._ “It was someplace on Earth,” she said, shrugging. “You play well. I see you already have Jim well trained, too.”

The Novakid giggled. “Nah, he just likes rocks. It’s harder gettin’ him to stop swipin’ ‘em. We hittin’ the trail?”

“As soon as you are ready.” As much as it was good to know people had survived Earth, Nyota was getting tired of the stares. It had taken all her willpower not to put her jacket back on and simply suffer the heat. _Why do I have to stick out so badly around humans?_

Sonny passed her cards back to the dealer and stood up. “Thank you kindly for the game, fellas,” she said. “And you ‘specially for the bottle cap.”

“You’re welcome to come play with us again, Missie,” the guard said, grinning broader. He looked up at Nyota. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen an Apex on a volcanic planet before. The little lady said you’re looking for Glitch, is that right?”

“We are,” Nyota confirmed. “Do you know where we could find them?”

“Our scouts run into their merchants from time to time,” he said as he shuffled the deck and dealt another round. “I’ve never seen it myself, but they said something about a castle just an hour or two west of here.”

-

The sun never really seemed to rise on Tessera Sigma, thick smoke clouds muting its rays to an eerie orange gloom. Volcanic rock gave way to sand, and then to a small oasis at the foot of a dune that rose like a mountain above them. The water was far from cold, but it was still cooler than the air around them. Nyota waited until Arjun finished refilling his water bottle before drenching herself. Wet fur was heavy, but it was better than slowly roasting.

“Captain, I see the castle!” Sonny called down from the top of the dune. “It’s just on the other side here! Sand’s real loose though, so—” Her voice broke off in a high whistle like a haywire radio.

Nyota scrambled to her feet, grabbing her spear. “Sonny!”

The Novakid’s voice was more distant and slightly muffled. “I’m okay. Wasn’t kiddin’ ‘bout that loose sand. Er, could I get a hand?”

Arjun carefully pried Sonny out of the crevice she’d gotten stuck in. “Oof. Glad you Novakid are light,” he grunted as she tumbled free. Nyota caught both of them before they slid down the dune again.

“Phew! I owe you one, Arjun!” Sonny said, dusting herself off. A rather rattled Jim skittered up her leg and into a pocket. She giggled, patting the skull. “Easy there, little fella. I’m alright.”

The mechanic harrumphed, knocking sand off his hat. “Don’t mention it. Happens to everyone. Both legs still attached? Good.”

“You fuss worse than Lumen,” Sonny teased. “It was just a tumble.”

“If you two are done,” Nyota interrupted, looking down the other side of the dune, “I think we’ve found the Glitch.”

**

“Distracted. Salutations!” a guard called as Nyota and her crew entered the castle. “We were not expecting visitors, but you are welcome as long as you mind your manners.”

Sonny fizzed with amusement. “It’s a good thing we left Hadley and Namina back home, ain’t it?”

Hadley’s voice grumbled through Nyota’s earpiece. “We _can_ hear you, you know.”

Nyota switched the speaker off before the guard could hear her and get suspicious, disguising the motion by tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You seem wary, sir. Have you been having trouble lately?” she asked.

The guard considered the question for a moment before dropping his voice to almost a whisper. “Worried. Have you heard of the Occasus? Apparently they’re strange angry people who have been attacking a Glitch keep! We fear they will begin harassing us next.”

“I see…” _Occasus again. I knew it had been too long since I last heard mention of them._ “Stay safe then, friend.” She headed inside, far enough away that the guard wouldn’t overhear her, and whispered, “Did you get that, Esther?”

“Yes… This is _very_ worrying.” For once, no sound of typing came through from Esther’s end. “I need to research the Occasus, it seems… But if news has spread here about them causing trouble, surely I can trace the rumors. I think… I think I might have an idea of where to go,” Esther said. “I just need one more good lead to confirm it.”

“Well, it’s a big castle,” Arjun said when Nyota relayed the news to her crewmates. “Guess we’ll start looking.”

The castle’s inhabitants were friendly enough, but it was easy to see that everyone was on edge. Nyota heard nervous whispers about purple-robed cultists and questions if their defenses were strong enough. The anxiety was catching. _The sooner we leave, the happier I’ll be_ , Nyota thought, flicking a bit of sweat off her face when she was certain no one was watching. At least the cold castle stones kept the heat down, but she could feel unease settling in.

“Captain!” Arjun called from somewhere upstairs, making Nyota flinch and several passing servants jump. “You’ll want to see this.”

Nyota climbed the stairs, Sonny close behind her, to find him standing in a slightly untidy library next to a large, ink-stained desk and a Glitch in a finely embroidered orange shirt. The Glitch inclined his head politely. “Embarrassed. Please don’t mind the mess. My name is Arrowmail. Mr. Arjun said you were looking for the Occasus, is that right?”

“Yes, or the keep they’re after,” Nyota confirmed. “Do you know anything about them?”

Arrowmail gestured at the desk. “Helpful. We received a letter recently that might be of use to you. I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more… I only arrived here a few weeks ago.”

Nyota leaned over the desk to get a better look. The writing was curled and twisted like vines, so very unlike the bold, simple Apex and human alphabets she was used to. _How do they_ read _this?_ she wondered. She could only pick out a handful of words at first glance and trying to follow the curves made her feel like the room was spinning. “Esther,” she said, pulling out the Matter Manipulator and looking away, “I think I’ll need you to read this one.”

“Oh, this is a fascinating find, dear,” Esther said as Nyota finished scanning the letter. “The letter mentions a figure of great notoriety amongst the Glitch. Amongst other things, he is a proprietor of many riches… Let’s see if I can’t decipher a name.”

Arjun turned down the top of the letter. “It’s not a name,” he said, “but it says _Baron._ Title any good for you, madam?”

“Baron? Just a moment… Ah! Thank you, Arjun! My theories were correct,” Esther exclaimed. “That figurine you found earlier does match a Baron who presides over a small fortress and, rumor has it, considerable wealth.  I think we can find the coordinates for his keep with this. Come back to the Ark when you’re ready and I’ll tell you where the Artifact is being kept.”

“Excellent,” Nyota said, putting the Matter Manipulator away. “Arrowmail, thank you for—where did he go?” Suspicion clawed hard and cold in her stomach. There was no sign of the Glitch. Or, for that matter, of Sonny.


	58. Arrowmail

Sonny had been watching Arrowmail with increasing interest as he spoke. Something about him was… different. She could feel it, the same way she felt caves echoing back through solid stone or read the energy traps in that big Avian temple. When Nyota scanned the letter, she saw a chance. “Humor me a sec, will you?” the Novakid whispered, leaning close to Arrowmail so no one else would hear.

“Confused. Yes, what do you need?” the Glitch asked, turning toward her. “Er. Where are you going?”

“Shhh,” Sonny hissed, taking his hand. The strange feeling got stronger, almost an itch. “Need somewhere private. This won’t take but a moment.” She led Arrowmail into an empty chamber and shut the door.

“Worried. What are you going to do?” Arrowmail asked, fidgeting, glancing at the door, the windows, probably looking for an escape.

“It’s alright, I ain’t gonna hurt you. I’m just curious,” Sonny said, trying to imitate the soothing tone Lumen used to use on the more angry or frightened patrons. Maybe it worked, because Arrowmail calmed down a bit and stood still, looking curiously at her. Sonny stretched up on her toes and put her hands on either side of his jaw.

Arrowmail twitched, making a strange humming whine like an overheating fan. “Flustered. My face. You are touching it. You’re touching my face.”

“Just relax and hush a spell…” Sonny’s glow focused around her hands and brand as she concentrated. It was like reading the stones or guessing what Lumen was thinking. _He’s energy, I’m energy. We speak the same lingo._ She could feel… patterns in the current. She knew what Glitch normally felt like, all the same rhythm. Arrowmail had that rhythm, but something was different. A little skip here, an extra beat there. It felt like… dancing.

“Aw, shoot,” the Novakid muttered, stepping back. “We gotta get you out of here.”

“Bewildered. Why? What’s wrong?”

Sonny crackled, flickering. “Why? You mean y’haven’t—no of course ya know. Shoot shoot shoot. Come _on._ ”

“Panicked. I can’t just hide? I thought… Oh,” Arrowmail said as he followed behind her again. “That was the problem, wasn’t it? I _thought_.”

Nyota was just starting to look for them when Sonny hurried over to her, a silent and anxious Arrowmail in tow. “Sonny? Where have you—” She stopped, seeing the dark clouding in the Novakid’s plasma. Her expression shifted from concerned to wary. “What’s going on?”

“Captain,” Sonny whispered, looking around to make sure no one else was listening, “this fella’s self-aware.” She felt Arrowmail twitch again. “Don’t ask me how I know, I’ll tell ya later. But it ain’t gonna be long before one of the other folks notices what’s what.”

Nyota looked between the two of them before focusing on Arrowmail. She didn’t ask any questions out loud, but it was clear she was waiting for answers.

Arrowmail hesitated, looking at the three of them, then bowed his head, his shoulders drooping in defeat. “Resigned. The lady has hit the nail on the head,” the Glitch said, folding his hands together.  “I have already had to flee one village when they caught on that I was… not the same. I had hoped the castle would be different, but…”

“I know what happens to the ones that get caught, Captain,” Sonny murmured, her glow dim. “I’ve heard ‘em tell the stories. Lock-ups, dunkin’, exile… He did us a good turn, Captain. We can’t leave him here for that.”

Nyota looked from the nervous, fidgeting Arrowmail to the dull, downcast Sonny. “What can I do?”

Arrowmail’s eyes flared brighter. “Desperate. As the luminous maiden says, it is too dangerous for me to stay with other Glitch. A life among the stars is the only choice I have left. Please, take me with you!”

Sonny’s face was almost painfully bright behind her brand. She put a hand over the glow, ducking her head. “Please jus’ call me Sonny,” she mumbled.

Nyota considered the question, then nodded. “You can come with us. I can’t promise it will be less dangerous, especially now…”

“Determined. A self-imposed exile is better than one thrust upon me,” Arrowmail said.

“Very well. Unless Sonny or Arjun have reasons to stay, we were just about to leave,” Nyota said. “I need to report back to Esther. Gather whatever you wish to bring, Arrowmail, and get permission from the castle’s lord if you can. I do not know when we may come back, and I would rather not be arrested for kidnapping you.”

“Alarmed. That would indeed be terrible!” Arrowmail said. “I will go find him — “

Nyota shook her head, unable to maintain a straight face. “I was joking, Arrowmail. Just get your belongings, and welcome to my crew.”

**

Something small, hard and plastic stung Nyota’s cheek as she rematerialized on the ship. Her dagger was in her hand before it hit the floor with a quiet clatter. She looked up, saw the dispenser slide shut, then looked down and spotted the silver card. “SAIL,” she said, her voice a bit sharper than usual as she sheathed the dagger again, “you will have to work on your aim if you do not want me to damage the ship.”

“Incredulous. You could harm the walls with a dagger?” Arrowmail asked, briefly distracted from his awed survey of the ship.

“Don’t doubt the captain, partner,” Lumen said, not looking up from his book. “I’ve seen her dent durasteel with just her fist.”

“Nervous. Ahahaha… Please do not hit me.” The Glitch sidled behind Sonny, which made her giggle.

“If you think a lil’ Nova like me can stop an Apex, you got another thing comin’.”

Nyota felt the corner of her mouth curl into an amused grin. “Sonny, why don’t you show him around?”

“You don’t want to do it yourself?” Sonny asked.

“I would not mind,” Nyota said, “but I would take longer. I need to clean up before I do anything else.” She desperately wanted a shower. It was bad enough smelling like wet ape without feeling the stiff, gummy ash in her fur every time she moved.

Sonny giggled again. “Aye aye, Captain!” She grabbed Arrowmail’s hand, excited little sparks flickering behind her brand like fireworks. “Come on, let’s meet the others!”

Lumen slowly folded his book shut, leaning forward. Light flared in his plasma, broadcasting his fascination as Sonny led Arrowmail to the other parts of the ship. “Well now, ain’t that somethin’,” he said.

“What is it?” Nyota stopped and looked down at him, curious.

He chuckled, leaning back in his chair. “Sonny’s mighty fond of that one, I’m thinkin’.”

Nyota turned to watch as the exuberant green Novakid introduced the happy but bewildered Glitch to Eldie. “You’ve seen her do this before?”

Lumen shrugged. “Nah, but I know the motions. She’s a lot like her mother, that one.” He tilted his head toward Nyota with an amused hum, catching her expression. “And before ya ask, no, Sonny ain’t mine. Her ma was just one of my regulars a few decades back, before I found my way to Mars.”

There was something about his tone that made Nyota pause. “You were fond of her.”

“Sure I was.” Lumen folded his hands behind his head. His glow dimmed slightly, color deepening to pale copper. “Everyone loved her… I can’t even remember her name, but I know the color of her favorite dress. I remember the sound of her voice when she ordered Eridanus moonshine an’ two shots of oculemon. She liked ‘em sharp,” he said, chuckling. Then the laugh faded and he looked up at the ceiling with a long, low sound that Nyota had never heard him make before. “An’ I remember how far away the stars were on the day she left and I knew in my core I’d never see her again.”

Nyota was quiet for a long moment before asking, “Did she know that you loved her?”

There was a rush of static, almost a sigh. “I never told her. Never screwed up the courage. I’m just a barkeep, Nyota. Always have been, always will be. It ain’t interestin’ enough to be worth a gal like that. But she was a bright one, jus’ like her daughter. I wonder, sometimes…” He hummed, a little too sadly to be true laughter. “I didn’t realize Sonny was hers until years after we met. Funny how these things go.”

“Lumen?” Nyota wanted to ask _Are you okay,_ but she knew already how he’d answer that.

“Don’t ya mind it, Captain,” he said, opening his book again. “Jus’ the ramblin’s of an ol’ starry wanderer.” He hummed a few bars of a strangely nostalgic tune as he turned the page.

Nyota watched him for a moment or two before realizing he had nothing else to say. She left him to his reading and headed for the showers, deep in thought.


	59. Back at the Ark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's are [two](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878/chapters/24663402) [new](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878/chapters/24663417) chapters in Parallels that take place shortly before this one; if you have not caught up with the sidestories there, I would recommend doing so, as the next arc will be bringing some of those characters into the main story.

The rest of her crew was occupied with cheerfully demonstrating the ship’s technology to a bewildered but fascinated Arrowmail, so Nyota slipped away alone to visit the Outpost. Penguin Pete greeted her cheerfully. “Heard you were laid low for a while. Good to see you up and about again,” he said, waving her over.

“I mend quickly,” Nyota told him with a smile. It was her stock answer, but it felt almost like an inside joke at this point after all the times she’d said it before.

“Ain’t that nice… And another upgrade so soon?” Pete asked as she showed him her newest license and handed over the upgrade modules. “You’re quite popular, aren’t ya, lass? The boys say you recruited old Aggy, too. Good luck with him. I’ll have the place improved in no time,” he said, handing the license back. “You’re lucky there’s so much space in space. Your ship’ll be nice and roomy after this.”

After thanking Pete, Nyota headed down the steps to the Ark. She stopped in front of the first hologram, the image of the Cultivator. It felt strange, but that one reminded her of the old portrait of the Apex Grand Protector somehow, the same almost maternal feel. _You would have liked the Terrene Protectorate,_ she thought, ascending the stairs. _And I… I miss it. Perhaps when this is over…_

“Nyota! You’re back!” Koichi’s voice snapped her out of her musings. The tall Hylotl waved at her from the top of the steps. “Good timing! We think we know where the relic is! It—”

“Check your exuberance.” Lana Blake’s voice, her tone something between command, exasperation, and resigned amusement. “You can tell her when she gets here.”

Nyota swallowed hard, very disturbed by the sudden uneasiness Marcy used to call ‘butterflies in her stomach’. _No,_ damn _it, no,_ she told herself. _Her voice_ _should not have this much of an effect. Focus. Control. Forget._

But she remembered Lumen’s story, his love for Sonny’s mother, the ache in his voice when he spoke of her. Lumen almost never spoke of his past, and yet… _I don’t think I can forget,_ Nyota realized. _I… don’t know if I want to._

 _Focus,_ she reminded herself, more sharply, as she climbed the stairs. Emotion could wait until after that relic was in her hands.

Esther was sitting by the Gate as always, the four other people gathered around her. Nuru perched happily on Tonauac’s shoulder as they studied the runes on the gate itself. Koichi stood next to Esther, waving cheerfully at Nyota, a massive tome held tight in his other hand. Lana sat next to them, surrounded by several computer screens, a small pile of photographs, and a dozen slightly worn transcripts. To Nyota’s vague astonishment, there was a well-used pencil tucked behind the rebel commander’s right ear and a pair of glasses clipped over her scarf. They felt completely out of place beside the rifle leaning slightly precariously against the second screen, but the look suited her. The butterflies calmed down, suddenly and inexplicably.

“You’re just a bit early, dear,” Esther said, looking up from her computer and offering Nyota a smile. “The Glitch artifact is in a castle, under the care of a certain slightly odd Glitch. Miss Blake and Koichi were helping me pinpoint the keep now.”

Lana’s mouth tightened slightly at _Miss_. “Just call me Blake or Lana,” she insisted, sifting through the photographs.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Esther apologized.

Nyota recognized the _bad memories_ expression in Lana’s face; she’d seen it in her own reflection enough times already. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she offered, shifting the subject.

Esther frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t know, dear. You’ve already done so—”

She was interrupted by a rustle of papers as Lana held out a handful of transcripts and photographs without bothering to look up from the one she was already studying. “You, at least, can read Apex. Start sorting through these,” the rebel commander said.

“It’s not my fault your writing flows like stone! How can _anyone_ read that?” Koichi protested.

“It can say what I want it to say without taking half an hour to do it,” Lana retorted. Her words were sharp, but her tone wasn’t, and the way Esther just smiled and shook her head told Nyota this wasn’t the first time they’d debated this.

The captain sat down and started skimming the first transcript, a report from someone called Arkadis on Occasus sightings hear his camp. Occasionally she’d comment on a particular find, or offer an opinion when Esther or Koichi spoke up. Nuru and Tonauac chimed in from time to time. Lana didn’t say much at first; Nyota felt like the rebel was studying her, though Lana was never looking her way when she glanced up, and there was a kind of stiffness to her posture that said _do not approach me_.

As time passed, though, Lana began answering Nyota’s questions herself, and even inviting Nyota’s opinions on her own work. When Namina came to find his captain a few hours later, he found the two Apex sitting side by side, poring over a transcript together. He watched them for a moment, grinned, and went to catch up with Nuru instead.

**

“That’s it!” Esther exclaimed suddenly, startling everyone. She looked from her screen to her notepad and back to the computer, then laughed. “I’ve got it. Nyota, dear, here’s the coordinates for you.”

Nyota took the slip of paper Esther offered, studied the numbers on it, and logged the information in her Matter Manipulator. “Tonauac’s suggestion was right, then,” she said, stowing the device. “Let us hope the Baron is more cooperative than the last relic’s owner.”

Lana looked at her sharply. “You intend to head out there like this?” There was a note of warning in her voice, and something that Nyota might have thought of as concern if it had come from one of her crew.

Nyota nodded, indicating the photograph they’d been working with. It clearly showed two Occasus cultists dueling with a Glitch knight. “The Occasus are already there. I do not know how long the Glitch have held out, or how much longer they can—”

She got no further. Lana’s hand flicked out, snakelike, tapping her right side. Nyota hissed and doubled over. She barely felt her knees hit the stone floor through the surge of pain in her ribs.

“Stop being reckless,” Lana said calmly over Esther’s worried exclamation, Koichi’s startled shout, and a furious Floran snarl.

“Namina!” Nyota’s voice made the Floran freeze, his sword half-drawn. She held as still as she could, breath coming in shallow gasps as the pain died down. “Do not harm her.”

Lana stiffened slightly, only the barest hint of alarm showing in her eyes. She watched Namina for a moment longer until the Floran sheathed his blade, then looked down at Nyota. “You will be walking into an active siege. You are in no shape for that, Captain Saimiri.”

“What would you have me do?” Nyota was still a little breathless, but she managed to straighten up enough to look Lana in the eyes. “We cannot afford to wait.”

“You cannot afford to die.”

Nyota was silent. _I will be fine,_ she wanted to say, and it hurt her pride as she realized she wouldn’t. Lana was right. She had been slowed down with Dreadwing and the bone hunters. Against the Occasus… She remembered her duel with Asra Nox all too well.

Lana knelt in front of her. “Big Ape nearly killed you,” she said, her voice almost soft as she held out her hand. “Nobody can recover from something like that in just eleven days.”

Nyota took her hand and let Lana pull her to her feet. “Then come with me.”

Lana’s face went blank. A full second passed before she remembered to let go. “We’ll see.”

Nyota tilted her head, politely accepting the answer, though inside her the butterflies returned with a joyful vengeance. She gestured for Namina to follow her and walked back down the steps. Behind her, she heard Koichi’s voice in what was probably intended as a whisper. “Well that went just swimmingly, despite that uncouth demonstration of violence, effective as it was.” The pleased smile was obvious in his voice. “Hm. If I didn’t know better, I would say you are quite ha—”

“Keep talking and I will demonstrate more violence,” Lana warned.

-

“Captain?” Hadley stood in the doorway, her hair a ruffled mess and eyes still slightly dazed with sleep.

Nyota looked up checking her rifle. “Hadley. Was I making too much noise?” she asked, apologetic. She’d been awake for an hour already, courtesy of another memory-dream. Her standard combat gear was scattered in a half-circle around her, sorted as neatly as she could manage while still half-asleep. The cold metal in her hands had chased the fog away well enough. It always did.

The former bandit shook her head, stifling a yawn. “Nah… I heard from Namina last night. You’re going after the Occasus. I’m coming with you.”

The captain studied her, then went back to her preparations. “As you wish.”

“Wait…” Hadley raised an eyebrow, almost suspicious. “No objections? No arguments?”

Nyota shrugged, setting the rifle aside to start sharpening her dagger. “You are a grown woman, Hadley. You proved on Muhlifain that I can trust you to watch my back. I want to know why you are coming, but I’d be happy to have you along.”

It took a moment for Nyota’s words to register through her sleepy mind, but Hadley grinned, bouncing a bit on her toes. “You already know I’m no fan of those Occasus bastards,” she said simply. “Won’t it be a great slap in the face, a human fighting ‘em?”

That got a quiet laugh. “Check your gear and get breakfast,” Nyota said. “We’ll leave whenever you are ready.”


	60. The Baron's Keep

Nyota found Arrowmail sitting with Sonny in the lounge; the Glitch’s eye bulbs were bright with delight as he coaxed Jim over with a leftover bit of fish. “Elated. I’ve never seen one so close before,” he said as the little scab grabbed the food and started nibbling on it. “I used to fear them, but this one is charming.”

“Yep. He tickles, too. Oh, heya Captain,” Sonny said, looking up. “You lookin’ for somethin’?”

Nyota nodded. “Arrowmail, how experienced are you with your people’s nobility?”

“Perplexed. I have spoken with them on occasion, or been spoken to. How can I be of service, my liege?” he asked, looking up at her.

“Call me Nyota or Captain,” Nyota said, ignoring Sonny’s sudden fit of giggles. “Hadley and I are headed to the Baron’s keep. He has an ancient relic we need.”

“Understanding. Ah, and you require my assistance to convince him he should bestow it upon you?” Arrowmail asked, standing up.

“Something like that, yes.”

Arrowmail offered her a sweeping bow, like a servant greeting his liege lord. “Earnest. I would be pleased to offer my assistance, Captain Nyota. I fear you may have to do most of the talking, as I am just a lowly scribe… but I can tell you what to say, and how to say it.” He paused. “Hesitant. If I may… Could I request that Sonny accompany us?”

Nyota studied him thoughtfully, but it was absolutely impossible for her to read a metal face.

“Eh? Whatcha want me along for?” Sonny asked with a curious little hum.

“Flustered. Ah… Well, you have been kind enough to show me your world here, I thought I’d… show you mine…” Arrowmail’s eyes dimmed sharply and his voice trailed off as he looked down at his knees.

After considering his explanation for a few moments, and the luminescent blush behind Sonny’s brand that followed it, Nyota nodded. “If Sonny wants to come, then I do not mind. Both of you, arm yourselves,” she said as Sonny fizzed excitedly. “The Baron’s keep has been under siege by the Occasus. I do not know if we will have to fight, but be ready for it.”

Nyota braced herself as the usual teleportation nausea vanished. When nothing  immediately tried to kill her, she relaxed slightly. “We found a lull, then,” she said, ducking through the low stone door. Like most things she had encountered beyond her ship and Miniknog settlements, it had not been designed with Apex height in mind.

“It looks pretty darn peaceful,” Sonny remarked, following close behind her. “Hard to believe there’ve been folks attackin’ it.” She scuffed the grass with one foot. “Ground feels all sorts of wrong, though. Someone’s shoved sod and loose dirt in to patch th’place up.”

“Impressed. You can tell?” Arrowmail asked. He looked closer at the ground. “It looks most ordinary to me, but perhaps my optics are out of alignment…”

“Nah, don’t bother your optics,” Sonny said. She knelt, putting a hand on the ground. Her brand glowed. “It ain’t seein’. I can feel it, like when I read you.” Her color went almost grey suddenly and she stood up fast, shivering. “Ohhh stars, I ain’t doin’ that again here…” she muttered, brushing her hands off. “People’ve _died_ here.”

“We oughta get somewhere safer,” Hadley said, absently patting Sonny’s elbow, which seemed to calm her a bit. “It’ll be real bad if we’re caught in the open when that lull ends.”

Nyota gestured for them to follow her, switching on her microphone. “I see the keep. Esther, anything I ought to know?” she asked, walking quickly across the too-open stretch between the low hill and the fort.

Esther’s voice came through surprisingly clear. “Well, as my books told us, this keep belongs to a Glitch known as the Baron. He is a retired hero, and by all accounts, a little… eccentric… He may have a few screws loose, dear, but he’s not dangerous.”

“Good to know.” Nyota stopped on the massive drawbridge, looking up at the tower high above them. “Let’s see if he will talk to us.”

**

A finely-dressed Glitch lounged cozily on a throne at the top of the stairs, a fine gold monocle obscuring his left eye. He looked up with a thoughtful (if tinny) chuckle as the sound of footsteps reached him, studying the four visitors. Nyota acknowledged him with a formal bow as she reached the top of the stairs, following the instructions Arrowmail had hastily whispered to her on the way up.

“Affable. Hello, stranger! Welcome to my keep!” the Baron said, standing to greet her. “I’ve been expecting you… Ever since you walked through that door!” He laughed, loud and good-naturedly. Nyota found herself smiling.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, your Lordship,” Nyota said, waiting a second before straightening back up. “I am Captain Nyota Saimiri, of the Terrene Protectorate.” She kept her gaze politely averted, and spotted something brilliant and orange glowing behind him.

“Curious. The Protectorate, you say? I had heard rumors… Ah, but that matters little if you are here now!” the Baron said, tapping his chin with a hollow clank. “Captain. A fine title. That makes these your subordinates?” His one visible eye swept over Hadley and Sonny as the others caught up, pausing briefly on Arrowmail, before returning to Nyota’s face.

“Yes, my Lord,” Nyota confirmed. “These three are members of my crew, Alice Hadley, Sonny, and Arrowmail.” She indicated each crew member in turn, and was quietly pleased when even Hadley remembered to bow.

The Glitch laughed again. “Entertained. You have much better manners than my last visitors. I would wager this is no social call?” he said, humor finding its way into the gleam in his eye and the tilt of his head.

Arrowmail stepped forward, though he kept his head respectfully lowered. “Bold. Yes, my Lord. We, ah, require your assistance with something of great importance.”

The Baron leaned forward. “Attentive. What’s that? You have a request?” He turned around, following Nyota’s gaze, which she hadn’t managed to shift in time. “That thing behind me? Oh, that… Yes, I found it some years ago. You can’t have it; it’s pretty and I like it.”

“Uncertain. Oh… Sorry to have bothered you then, my Lord,” Arrowmail said, backing up to stand beside Nyota again, his bowed shoulders and tilted head apologetic.

The Baron waved dismissively at them. “Imperious. Well! Goodbye then, strange people.”

Nyota felt a challenge rising. She had not gotten _this far_ , come this _close,_ to leave empty-handed. “Perhaps,” she began, and she felt his attention suddenly on her again, all their attention on her, from Arrowmail’s sudden dread to Hadley’s amused fascination. “Perhaps I may offer a bargain, your Lordship. A wager? I understand you enjoy a good game.”

She did not miss the sudden interest in his stance, but before he could speak, something rumbled in the distance, like thunder, but there were no clouds in the sky. An instant later, a bell began clanging frantically from the courtyard behind them.

Whatever the Baron had been about to say vanished with the rumbling. “Startled. Do you hear that?” he asked.

Nyota didn’t respond, her eyes flicking around them, her body tense and ready to move. She remembered too many skirmishes, had been caught up in too many raids, not to know what this was.

“Alarmed,” the Baron began, but the skittering of clawed feet on stone interrupted him.

A strange woman, scaled and taloned and unlike anyone Nyota had ever heard of, sprinted up the steps, utterly ignoring Nyota’s crew to stop in front of the Baron. She wasted no time on formalities or even catching her breath. “Baron, the humans are gathering again. I’ve never seen so many. We can’t hold them ourselves.” Her accent was strange and fluid, utterly foreign.

“Those cloaked vagrants!” The Baron practically exploded with indignant fury. “Back again! This is the fourth time!” He turned to Nyota, his eye-bulb gleaming like fire. “Decisive. Right, I propose a trade: you get rid of these loathsome cultists for me, I give you the shiny bauble.”

“I accept,” Nyota said. “Sonny, Arrowmail, find somewhere safe and do not leave it,” she ordered, turning to her crew. “Help the defenders if you can but do _not_ engage directly. Hadley, you’re with me.”

The reptilian woman turned an appraising eye on Nyota. “Here’s someone who’s been in a battle or two,” she remarked. “What’s your name, then?”

“Nyota Saimiri, of the Terrene Protectorate,” Nyota said, inclining her head respectfully. She’d seen enough born fighters to know when she saw one. The humor and interest in those snakelike eyes did nothing to bury the strength and will behind them, any more than her scales hid the muscles beneath.

“Khayar as-Tevira, Avikan Nomada.” Khayar tapped her collarbone with her fist, flicking her head up proudly. “I’ll save ‘it’s a pleasure’ for if we survive. We can hold the west. You take east?”

Nyota saluted her, half out of habit, and Khayar imitated the gesture with an amused, fanged grin before heading for the far side of the castle. The Apex drew her spear and turned to face the Occasus once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Khayar as-Tevira is an Avikan from the Elithian Alliance mod. She was introduced in [Parallels](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878/chapters/24663402).


	61. Round One

Something sharp shot past Nyota’s head, clipping a few strands out of her hair. “Hadley!” she called. “Archers!”

“On it.” There was a burst of gunfire, a scream. “Got him!”

Nyota gritted her teeth and shoved hard, knocking back the cultist that had locked his sword against her spear shaft. He yelled in surprise, a sound abruptly cut off by her blade coming down.

There were too many. It took seconds to deal with one, seconds she didn’t have as another sword nicked her armor. Nyota snarled, using her spear like a quarterstaff to force them away long enough to breathe. The sight of her long canines made some of the cultists flinch back, but they surged forward again with shouts of “Demon! Monster! Beast!”

She locked blades with another cultist, digging her heels into the earth. A memory flickered up, her first raid, the press of fear and excitement and grate of steel on steel. She forced it away. _Focus!_ An ill-timed slip would have her head rolling on the grass. Time enough for thought when this was done.

The earth rumbled again as Nyota flicked blood off her spear and the survivors warped away; no time to rest.

“Outraged. The brigands have rolled in a war machine!” The Baron’s voice rang out from the top of the keep where he stood directing his archers. “I won’t have my keep obliterated,” he shouted down to Nyota. “You must destroy that ballista!”

“Cover me,” Nyota called back to Hadley. She dove past the hissing blades of the vanguard, letting Hadley’s bullets deal with them as her spear bit deep into the supports. A twist of her wrist emptied the acid chamber onto the ancient wood. The rearguard shouted, his sword raised. Nyota slammed her heel into his chest, the snap of bone lost under a wooden groan as the ballista gave way. He hit the ground several dozen yards away.

“And you call me reckless,” Hadley teased as Nyota fell back to join her.

“You are reckless,” Nyota told her. “I never said I wasn’t.” She felt the old wild excitement again despite the tiredness starting to claw at her bones. Blood and steel. This was what she’d been raised to do.

Primal fear prickled at the base of her skull and she looked up, just as the Baron’s voice reached them again. “Agitated. We are besieged by another wave!” he called. “They’ve sent more infantry, and more archers, and… No! They’re in the skies! Those purple curs have taken to the air!”

“ _Ash,_ ” Nyota hissed, her eyes widening. Too many. She saw _dozens_ of them filling the air, more surging forward across the ground, light flashing as reinforcements teleported in. “Fall back!” she shouted to Hadley, but then there were cultists all around them. Blood splashed across her sight as her feet moved on raw instinct, her spear a silver blur as it whirled through cloth and flesh, drawing shrieks of pain and curses cut short. For every one that fell, another lunged for her. Her shirt was in tatters, the armor beneath scratched and stained. She fought just to evade, almost dancing, every sword that glanced off her armor followed by five slicing the empty air where she’d been moments before.

And then she was clear again, dead Occasus at her feet, her fur matted with blood and sweat, most human and some hers, chest heaving with ragged gasps as she leaned against an old wood support and prayed without sound for just one more breath. She heard Hadley call her name, ask if she was alright, and could only nod to show that she’d heard.

The tunnel to the teleporter was collapsed; she could barely see the rubble through the smoke. No chance for the others to escape. SAIL produced only buzzing and error tones when she tried to contact her ship: interference from Occasus teleporters. Nyota felt despair sinking into her bones. She couldn’t fall here. There’d be no one to protect Sonny, Arrowmail, Hadley… _Stars, there are too many. We can’t—_

Dimly, she heard a burst of static, followed by familiar voice from her earpiece. “Aha, I think that did the trick. Hello? It’s me.”

 _Koichi?_ Her fingers found the volume switch and clicked it up a notch. “This is not the best time.”

“Yes, I know. I’m sorry, but—” He paused, clearing his throat. “There are more cultists coming through. Please don’t worry though; we’re going to help! I’d just get in the way, but the others are coming down!”

Nyota had no time to ask what he meant. Another wave of light and the Occasus were back.

-

Crude flying machines pounded the air above her. Nyota heard the smash of breaking glass and scrambled clear as flames burst up along the ground. She crouched in the shallow shelter beside Hadley’s sniping perch, coughing the smoke out of her lungs. Hadley’s rifle shattered the propeller axle and sent the culprit plummeting down. “How long do you think we’ll last, Captain?” she asked, her face surprisingly calm as she lined up a shot at the next one, as if she was asking about the weather.

Before Nyota could give her an accurate guess, green light flashed down behind a pack of Occasus. A short, colorful Floran stood up, dusted herself off, and spun electricity from her spear, sending it crackling through the cultists before they knew what hit them. “Hey there, Nyota!” she called, waving. “These robed huntersss want a fight. Let’s show them a bad time!”

“Nuru! Hey!” Hadley called. She ducked as an arrow whizzed past her and returned fire, cursing viciously.

Nyota jumped off their perch, using a distracted cultist to soften her fall, and ran to help Nuru as the Occasus recovered from the shock of having an unexpected Floran in their midst. “You have good timing,” she said, parrying a blow and countering with a sharp kick.

“I couldn’t let you have all the fun!” Nuru teased. She ducked a cultist’s sword and gave its owner a nasty taste of her spear before sparing a glance up at Nyota. “The others will be along soon, too. I’m taking thiss bunch!” Shrieking a battle cry, she charged a pack of archers.

“I almost forgot how awesome Floran are,” Hadley said, sniping down another flier with a wicked grin.

Nyota nodded appreciatively, but there was no time to admire Nuru’s work. Another gang of Occasus warped in, too fast to evade. The Apex found herself surrounded again.

Dodge, slash, disarm, screams and fury and confusion around her. A blade nicked her cheek. The air was sweat, smoke, and blood, clawing her throat at each breath. Swirling robes and flashing steel, too close. “Get away—Gah!” She coughed and staggered as a cultist got under her reach and bashed his mace _hard_ against her armor. Pain seared up her side. His mace raised again, came down— _Damn—_

Three shots, and the remaining cultists dropped around her, the mace glancing harmlessly off her shoulder. Lana Blake stood up, shouldering her still-smoking rifle. She caught Nyota’s eye and inclined her head with the slightest of smiles. “Hello, Captain.”

A matching smile teased the corners of Nyota’s mouth. “You came.”

“Of course.” Lana turned toward the castle, where more Occasus were starting to appear. “There’s three more of ours on the way. Let’s take care of this situation, shall we?”

Nyota flicked the blood off her face and fell in beside Lana, spear raised and ready as the next wave arrived.

**

Tarvei flashed down just behind Geo, Mog clinging to his shoulder, just in time to scramble out of the way as some kind of wooden machine crashed down from the sky. He jumped back again as the machine’s pilot clambered out of the wreckage and tried to impale him. Vei flicked a dagger out of his sleeve and stabbed the furious robed person before they could try to do any more harm. “Geo!” he called, looking around. “You make it alright?”

“Oi oi oi, heads _up,_ ape boy!” Mog squawked. The penguin’s laser pistol hissed and shrieked in his ear as she started firing. Tarvei turned, drawing a second knife, and parried the next attacker’s swing. Mog finished the job for him, but more raiders noticed them and charged. Vei twisted out of the way, staff clattering against his back as he blocked and dodged for all he was worth. _Just don’t die out there,_ was all Commander Blake had said when they caught up to her at the ruin. He hadn’t expected to test that order so soon.

Geo’s roar and heavy, vicious axe cleaved a path through the crowd, sending the robed humans scattering. “This way!”

Vei sprinted through the opening, then turned and threw one of his daggers at one attacker who’d tried following him, sending them rolling down the slope again. He drew a spare dagger; there’d be time to collect the others when he wasn’t in immediate danger. “What timing,” he said, half laughing. “I don’t remember my last raid being this messy.”

“Your last raid did not involve mad human cultists,” Geo noted as they found a relatively safer spot to get their bearings. “I am glad you convinced me to let you come. The Commander would not have fared well here on her own. We should find her and regroup.”

Tarvei was silent for a moment, watching the battle below. He elbowed Geo. “Look.” He pointed as Geo turned an irritated glare on him, then practically felt the awe fill the older male’s stare. “I don’t think she needs our help,” Vei said.

Lana Blake stood in the middle of a mob of robed humans, her rifle firing shot after shot as she picked off archers and flying machines. A dark-haired stranger guarded her back, fending off anyone who got too close with her venom-tipped spear, its blade flaring with green energy as she hurled arcs of poison into the pack. Back to back, the two women moved as if they’d spent their whole lives fighting together, each calling commands and warnings that never reached Tarvei’s ears.

Vei stared hard at the stranger, but she was moving too quickly for him to get more than a faint impression. “Geo, is that…?”

Geo nodded. “That’s Captain Saimiri.” He watched them for a few seconds, then looked up. A growl rumbled in his chest. “Incoming. Come on, Vei. We can catch up with them after we survive this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tarvei, like Khayar, was introduced in Parallels, and most of the sidestories there center on him. Geo is the Apex we encountered on Muhlifain Morass IV.


	62. Collapse

They were just beginning to force the cultists back at last when the last ballista rolled up. There was no warning. Sonny heard the crack of the thick wood arm, the howl of the boulder through the air. She almost dropped the full quiver she was passing to the Glitch guard.

“Reassuring. They are too far back. It will fall far short of us,” the archer told her, catching the quiver and nocking another arrow.

The reassurance did nothing to stop Sonny from flinching as she heard the crack again. She leaned out over the battlements to see where the boulder fell.  It crashed through wood and stone, draining the color from her.

Arrowmail heard her scream. “Alarmed. What is wrong?” he exclaimed, hurrying over. “Are you hurt?”

Sonny had already grabbed her dagger and started scrambling down the wall, hand over hand. “That’s where Hadley was hidin’! We gotta help her!”

The Novakid didn’t even wait to see if he’d follow. She dropped the last few feet, checked that no one was charging right at her, and sprinted across the drawbridge. Hadley’s sword was stuck point-down in the grass, her rifle half buried in the mound of rubble that had been the old tower. Humming with fear, Sonny pressed her hand against the stones. _What if I can’t find her? What if she’s dead? What if… There!_ The energy echoed back: a hollow space on the south side, just big enough… She could feel dampness in the earth. Blood. But not death, not yet.

Arrowmail caught up with her as Sonny grabbed a wooden spar and jammed it into a gap between two stones, throwing all her small weight down on it. She squeaked as the beam moved suddenly and looked over to see his eyes glowing steadily beside her, his metallic hands clamped around the beam. “Encouraging. This will go faster with two.”

A second good shove sent the rock tumbling aside, exposing a gap and… _Hadley._ Sonny scrambled into the hole, nudging as much debris aside as she dared. The former bandit lay half-buried in rubble, skin torn and dark with bruises, so still that Sonny had to wait for several awful seconds before she felt Hadley’s heartbeat. “She lives!” she called back to Arrowmail, shifting the looser bits of rubble to widen the space and let more air in. “I’m gettin’ her outta here!”

“Wary. Keep your voice down, milady. It would seem we have company,” Arrowmail warned. Sonny looked back to see him pull Hadley’s sword out of the ground. A pair of Occasus advanced on the Glitch as he backed away, keeping himself between them and Sonny.

“Shoot,” Sonny whispered, shrinking back and feeling for the dagger at her hip. “Arrowmail, run for it. Ya ain’t got a prayer ‘gainst two of ‘em.”

Arrowmail shook his head. “Loyal. And what manner of librarian would leave a lady in the lurch? Get the rubble off her. I’ll hold them off!” He brandished the broadsword and his eyes flared. “Courageous. Have at thee!”

-

Nyota heard the crashing stone and Sonny’s shriek, turned to see the small green figure dart down the keep walls like a spider and run toward the ruined tower, a Glitch close behind. _Why are they…?_

“Captain! Down!”

An arm caught her back, knocked her off balance and shoved her into the ground. A split second later, the earth exploded. Dirt and stone showered down around her. An impact, muted. Something snapped. The person holding her shuddered, gasped.

Then the air cleared and Lana Blake was helping her up, shaking the dirt out of her short brown hair. A slim gash dripped blood past her eye. “Are you hurt?” the commander asked, her voice tight with pain.

Nyota shook her head, dislodging dust and chips of stone, and stumbled as the world spun. Lana’s grip on her arm tightened. “I’m fine,” Nyota insisted as her vision settled. “What—”

“They have a ballista,” Lana told her grimly. She watched Nyota’s gaze flicker toward the pile of rubble where Sonny had been, then to Lana’s left arm hanging stiff and awkward by her side, the Occasus regrouping around them.

“Go.”

Nyota turned and ran.

Lana turned toward the cultists as they inched toward her again, less cautious than they would have been if she’d had her rifle in her hands or the captain at her side. She pulled a grenade from her belt, gritting her teeth against the cold agony from her useless left arm. “Right,” she muttered, hooking the pin over her teeth, “who’s feeling lucky?”

**

“Geo! Heads _up!_ ”

The older male glanced up just in time to see sunlight glint on glass—firebomb. Too late to dodge. His axe smashed it out of the air; he winced as a few sparks bit though his fur before winking out. There was a creaking groan and the wooden flier crashed down just a few paces from him, one of Vei’s daggers jamming the axle. Geo made sure the pilot wouldn’t be getting revenge before catching up with the boy. “This is yours,” he said, passing the dagger back.

“Thanks,” Tarvei replied, stowing it again. “You’d think they’d stop after a bit, eh? Whoa!”

Both Apex lost their balance as the ground shook. “What the heck was _that?_ ” Vei asked, scrambling to his feet again and scanning the field frantically.

“Siege engine,” Geo said grimly as he stood up. “Big one. But what are they aiming for…?” His eyes widened as he spotted the crater that blast had left and recognized the two women near it. “Tarvei, kill that machine!”

“Got it!” Vei whistled sharply, sprinting toward the massive wooden machine.

Mog heard, slipped out of the cluster of cultists she’d been caught in, and scrambled over to him as fast as her short legs could carry her. “Oi, you forget I can’t keep up with ya?” she asked breathlessly. “What’s the plan?”

“Break that thing,” Vei said, scooping her up as he ran and setting her in her usual perch on his shoulder, where she nestled between his head and the old staff. He was already running calculations in his head— _load bearing support there, weak rope here, axle pin’s coming loose, too much tension on that beam…_

The penguin eyed the contraption. “That’s _your_ plan,” she said slowly. “What’s mine?”

The Apex grinned. “Same as ever. Save my sorry hide.”

Mog cackled, taking aim as the first guard spotted them. “I like this plan.”

-

Lana Blake was losing ground. Her last grenade was gone and she was down to nothing but a long knife in her good hand and a curse between her teeth.

They just kept coming.

One lunged and she parried his sword with her knife, elbowing him back. He slipped and she sank her blade into him, but another one swiped at her head and she barely jumped back in time to avoid a second scar across her eye. Her ear stung, bleeding.

And then the cultist was gone, knocked away by seven feet of axe-wielding male Apex. “I hope you are still breathing, Commander?”

Lana spat the curse out, a wild grin baring her teeth. “Geo. Your timing improves with age.”

Geo imitated her grin as he fended off the last cultist from that pack. “Apologies, Commander. My hands were full with enthusiastic youngster,” he told her as soon as his foe hit the dirt. “And you did well enough with Captain Saimiri. I did not want to interrupt the moment.”

Lana cursed again, sharper, earning a bewildered stare from Geo. “Not you too,” she muttered. “It’s bad enough I get it from that fish.”

That got her a curious look, but Geo also noted how unsteady she was, how stiffly she held her left arm. “Later, I think,” he said decisively. “Let’s get you out of here.”

-

Nyota ran as fast as her feet would carry her. Too far. Too slow. She saw one of the Occasus swing her sword, heard Arrowmail cry out, Sonny’s voice echoing his as the Glitch doubled over. The Apex roared, the two cultists whirled to face her, and she flung her spear like a javelin, as hard as she could. It bit deep; the one who had hurt Arrowmail dropped without even a scream. Nyota’s hand caught the other cultist around the throat as he turned to run, lifted and hurled him. She didn’t wait to see where he landed. “Arrowmail, Sonny, are you two alright?” she asked, dropping to her knees beside the wounded Glitch.

“Pained. I have been better, my Captain,” Arrowmail said, hand pressed to the long gash. “The scoundrel severed nothing serious, I am pleased to report…” He laughed, a rattling, tinny sound. “Flabbergasted. Just… how hard did you throw that man?”

“Not hard enough,” Nyota murmured, seeing the crackle of frayed wire under Arrowmail’s fingertips. “Sonny?”

“I’m alright, Captain, but Hadley…” Sonny shifted, gesturing behind her with a split, cracked hand. Nyota could see Hadley lying beside her, pinned beneath the unstable rubble, and felt the blood drain from her face.

“Both of you, get back.”

Sonny obeyed, taking Arrowmail’s hand and guiding him out of the way as Nyota ducked into the gap between the stones. It was too small to stand. She pressed her back against the rough stone and pushed. Nothing gave at first, then dust fell, the wood groaned. Nyota felt her joints creak in protest and ignored them, shoving as hard as she could until at last the stone grated free and crashed down on the far side of the mound and she staggered, the weight gone. She knelt beside Hadley, checking for any sign that her youngest crewmate was still alive, and smiled softly as she felt breath touch her fur.

Color faded back into Sonny’s face and the Novakid hummed with relief as Nyota stepped out of the rubble, Hadley so small and battered but safe, _alive_ , in her arms. Nyota crouched beside Sonny and Arrowmail, setting Hadley gently down on the grass.

“Stay here,” she whispered. “I’ll draw their fire. Don’t try to reach the castle on your own.” Nyota waited until both Sonny and Arrowmail nodded their understanding, then pulled a faintly glowing bottle from her pocket, the last vial of healing water she’d saved from home. “Give this to her,” she said, passing it to Sonny, “if she wakes. Should be… enough, until SAIL can call you home.” She closed her eyes, then stood up. “…Stay safe.”

Nyota drew her staff and turned to face the final wave alone.


	63. Reunion

Nuru caught up with Nyota shortly before the last wave began. Gleaming flowers formed from blood red light around the Apex as she raised her left hand, the staff in her right crackling with power. The Floran’s dark eyes reflected the light, making her wide grin all the more eerie as Nyota flicked her wrist and sent the petals spinning into the advancing Occasus. “Nice shot,” she called.

“Nuru! So you were safe,” Nyota said, glancing at her with a small but relieved smile. “Koichi’s been fretting in my ear.”

The small Floran laughed. “Really? He worries too much,” she complained, but her fingers tapped merrily on her spear. Nyota could tell she was pleased.

“I will let him know you’re fine,” Nyota promised as she called up more flowers and set them spiraling around herself. “Watch your back!”

Nuru hissed and ducked as a sword hissed over her head, clipping her foliage. “Hey! I work hard on that!” she snarled as severed leaves dropped around her. The cultist screamed as she jabbed him with her spear, following up with a surge of electricity. “Do they ever quit?” she asked, more indignant than angry.

“Even the Occasus cannot fight forever,” Nyota replied grimly, conjuring another surge. The drain was starting to wear on her. “They’ve slowed down. If we—agh!” She broke off with a cry of pain as an arrow tore across the skin between her shoulder and neck. Half of the flowers simply winked out; the rest spun wildly off target, causing more damage to the battlefield than the Occasus.

“Nyota!” Nuru hurled a ball of electricity at the archer, then ran to her side. “Hey, pull yoursself together, champ. We have to keep going!” she said.

“I’m fine, it only clipped me,” Nyota reassured her, feeling far less than fine as she pressed her fingers against the wound to stop the bleeding. Her heart pounded with how lucky she’d been. A little lower and it would have crippled her. A little further left… Her thumb brushed against her throat and she shook herself, activating the staff again. “Come with me, Nuru? I could use a hand.”

-

Nyota spotted Geo first, the tall male Apex pounding a swordsman down. Then he turned, saw her, and Nyota froze. When they’d last met, it had been as friends. _Does he know I was Miniknog?_

“Captain Saimiri,” Geo said. His tone was cordial, his face giving nothing away, though he inclined his head respectfully. He looked more than a little worse for wear. “You have fine timing, as you did on Muhlifain.”

“Glad to hear it,” Nyota said, keeping him in the corner of her vision as she watched the Occasus advance toward them. “Commander Blake?”

“Here.” Lana’s voice was sharp with pain as she spoke, dried blood on her face and her left arm bound in a crude splint, but her expression relaxed slightly as she caught sight of Nyota. “Good to see you’re in one piece.”

“You too,” Nyota said, but there was no time for conversation. The Occasus were getting far too close for comfort. She raised her staff, dredging up what energy she had left. “We need to get both of you out of here. Nuru, watch our backs.”

“Wait,”’ Lana commanded, and the Floran stopped, confused. The Apex smiled, grim and tired but satisfied, as she watched the mob. “No reinforcements. This is their last push.” She caught Nyota’s eye, raised her knife.

Nyota saw, and understood. She asked no questions. As the first swordsman reached her, she parried his wild swing, disarming and tripping him so Lana could finish the job. Beside her, Nuru screeched a Floran war-cry, electricity from her spear stunning an archer that took aim at Geo. A fresh volley of arrows from the Baron’s forces on the keep wall cut through the stragglers. Sword against spear, scarlet blossoms dancing, Geo’s bone-shaking roar, Lana calling warnings as she fought with only her knife—

Then it was over. The Baron’s voice rang out over the silent field. “Jubilant. Ha ha! That’s done for them! We got every last one of those wretched maggots! I could sing. Come here, I want to speak with you…”

“Great!” Nuru said happily. “Sounds like it’s over. I’m off, see ya later!” She vanished as Koichi got the coordinates right to teleport her home.

Nyota met Lana’s gaze. “What are you waiting for? He is not talking to the rest of us,” the commander said. She studied Nyota again, her stare somehow softer than it had been before. “Good work, Captain,” she said at last, her smile sparking a strange warmth in Nyota’s chest. “I will see you back at the Ark.”

“I am headed to the keep,” Geo said as Lana contacted Koichi for teleporting. “My young charge and his devilbird might have ended up there. It was good seeing you again, Captain Saimiri.”

“You… yes. Thank you, Geo.” Nyota bowed, much to Geo’s surprise, and turned away, switching on her microphone. “Lumen?”

“I hear ya, Captain.” He sounded anxious. “What’s happenin’? Thing’s’ve finally calmed down enough for SAIL’s scanner t’find ya, and it ain’t lookin’ too purdy.”

“Hadley and Arrowmail are badly injured,” Nyota reported, and heard him crackle sharply. “Tell SAIL to get them home.”

“Yes ma’am. …What about you? No offense, Captain, but yer signal ain’t too hale ‘n hearty either.”

Nyota looked over at the keep where the Baron was waiting. “I’m not done here.”

**

The Baron hurried down from the walls as Nyota stepped through the castle gates. “Impressed. Brilliant work! I doubt I’ll suffer a return visit from them…” He regarded her thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side. “Hmm, you remind me of a young me. You’ve certainly earned your bauble.”

“Thank you, my Lord,” Nyota said politely, falling into step beside him. Then she spotted Geo again and paused. The rebel was speaking with a pair of archers, both of them expressing confusion.

The Baron stopped with her, turning a thoughtful eye on Geo. “Curious. You there, I do not believe we have met? What are you doing?”

Geo stepped back and offered the Baron a respectful salute. “Apologies sir, I was just looking for a friend of mine. We split up when the last ballista rolled in. I had hoped to find him in your keep.”

Nyota heard the deep worry in Geo’s voice and turned to the Baron. “My Lord,” she said, “can we discuss the bauble in a few minutes?”

“Disappointed. Do you not want your fine and shiny bauble?” the Baron asked, and shook his head. “Oh, very well. I may as well go see how Lady Khayar fared.”

“Geo.” Nyota hurried over to him as the Baron headed for the west side of his keep. “Where did you last see this charge of yours? What does he look like?”

Geo’s brows were furrowed, his expression a knot of concern. “On the eastern hilltop. He is very young, only twenty or so, black fur and skin the same color as yours, Captain. I am growing worried he… _could_ not make it back. That penguin should have kept him safe, but there were many attackers…”

“I will find him,” Nyota promised, and Geo’s face relaxed into a broad, relieved smile.

“Thank you, Captain Saimiri. I will check from the battlements.”

Nyota’s feet carried her quickly across the drawbridge, though she slowed down as she reached the torn-up field. It would be the most ironic indignity if she turned an ankle in a ditch after surviving all that. None of the bodies near her were Apex, at least…

Something clattered off her boot as she passed the worst of the destruction. A rifle, Apex manufacture, definite signs of customization. “Commander Blake might want this back,” she muttered, smiling slightly as she picked it up and slung it next to the spear on her back.

She started toward the hill, scanning for anyone that matched Geo’s description, upright or otherwise. As she reached the base, something small and white caught her eye. She stopped, knelt, and gently picked it up. It was a doll.

-

“C’mon, boy! We need to find Geo and get back before Aly flays us,” Mog insisted, scurrying along behind Tarvei as he scoured the field.

“In a minute. I can’t leave without it!” Tarvei was growing frantic. His charm was gone. He didn’t know how the doll had fallen out of his pocket; it must have been when he took down the siege engine, he was sure of it. That whole moment was still a blur…

Then he spotted her. An Apex woman stood stock-still on the plain, wind tossing her long, dark hair. Captain Saimiri. There was something small cradled in her hand, something familiar. Tarvei hurried toward her.

Nyota turned the doll over, fascinated. It resembled a female scientist, so old that the soft grey fur had faded to almost white. She had seen it before. She _knew_ it. A slow, uncertain smile began to form, one that hadn’t touched her face in more than twenty years, a smile without the weight of time behind it. _One way to know for certain._ She slid her thumb under the doll’s collar and folded the threadbare coat aside, looking for the clumsy child’s stitches she’d put in her own doll when the shoulder tore so long ago, in blue thread because she’d run out of grey…

Instinct jabbed at her and her head snapped up, free hand jumping to her spear. Then her eyes focused on the intruder, and she went utterly still.

Tarvei took a half step back, hands raised in a gesture of peace, as the woman rounded on him, moving as if to draw her weapon. “Sorry, sorry,” he stammered, but the hostility was gone from her face as quickly as it had appeared.

“This is yours?” Nyota asked, lowering her hand and holding out the doll.

Vei scratched his ear self-consciously, sticking his free hand in his pocket. “Uh, yeah, sort of.”

The smile began to return. “She has been well cared-for,” Nyota told him. Neither of them made any move to approach the other. “I had one just like her once.”

The strangest feeling settled in Tarvei’s chest. His voice was barely a whisper as he said, “She belonged to my sister.”

Silence. But just as Nyota opened her mouth to ask the question that weighed so heavy on her tongue, the air around them went dark. She looked up at the thing that had blotted out the sky and felt her throat tighten with fear and disbelief. Fear won.


	64. The Bone Dragon

A chill settled over the castle as the light vanished. It was almost as if a cloud had blocked the sun… but there were no clouds today. Khayar and the Baron looked up. “Shocked. What’s that in the sky?!” the Baron asked.

The Avikan’s pupils narrowed to nervous slits. “What kind of beast… I have never anything like this,” she whispered.

“Speechless. …”

Khayar snapped out of her daze as she caught sight of the purple-clad warrior on its back. “Occasus!” she snapped, grabbing her bow and scaling the wall to the battlements as easily as climbing the stairs. “Archers ready!” she shouted. “They’ve returned!”

-

A voice echoed down from the bone dragon’s back, carrying easily over its pounding wings. “Oh good, it’s _you_ …  So ‘mummy’ sent you on another errand. Let’s get this over with.”

Nyota snarled. She recognized that voice. The woman from the Library. The one who killed Isobu. Asra Nox.

“Boy, get back,” she warned, stowing the doll and raising her rifle.

“Yes ma’am.” The younger Apex scrambled back, as far out of her way as he could get.

The dragon roared and spat a ball of flame straight at her. Nyota dove out of the way, her rifle up and firing as soon as she could aim. Chips of bone split off the dragon’s left wing, drawing a vicious curse from the woman on its back. A second fireball had similar lack of effect; Nyota jumped easily out of the way, sniping its wing in midair.

“Fine. If you won’t hold still…” Asra grabbed the dragon’s horn as it fired a third time and it jerked left at the last second, the blast going wide.

 _What is she—_ Nyota’s eyes went wide. She was moving before thought ever reached her.

Tarvei didn’t have time to react. One moment, he heard Mog calling from the top of the cliff, something about more Occasus. The next, the penguin screamed a warning and he whirled around. Fire. His arms rose, as if he could ward it off— _I’m dead—_

A short grunt. Dark. Tarvei opened his eyes. Captain Saimiri met them briefly, a slight, relieved smile curving her lips. Then a ragged sigh slipped out of her and her eyes slid shut. Tarvei barely managed to catch her as she fell, smoke curling off her back.

 _She… shielded me?_ Vei couldn’t think straight. The woman on the dragon was laughing, gloating. The captain wasn’t moving. She hung limp in his arms; was she even breathing? He could faintly hear someone’s voice from her earpiece calling the same word, over and over again, pleading. A name. _Nyota_.

Occasus appeared on the plain in front of them. Vei tried to back up, hit stone. Something clattered. His staff. He eased Captain Saimiri down, tried to ignore the advancing cultists, drew his staff and held it out. It flared. _My strength for hers. Please work._

-

Nyota groaned as something pulled her out of the dark fog. It felt like thousands of hooks jammed into her shoulder blades, curled under her spine. Pain fought back, trying to drag her back down. Her back _burned…_ And then the pain dulled. She could hear feet pounding the ground and pushed herself up, her dagger in her hand from sheer habit, just in time to catch the first Occasus by surprise. “But… y-you,” the cultist gasped. Nyota wrenched the blade out of his ribs and let him drop.

 _The boy._ Nyota parried another cultist and jammed an elbow into his gut. _Last thing I… Dragon. Fire._ The reek of scorched fur told her it was no dream. _Where is he?_ The third cultist fell with Nyota’s dagger in her neck.

“You’re alive.” A voice, breathless, behind her. She turned, saw the Apex boy, a glowing staff gripped tight in one hand. He was trembling, from fear or exhaustion, but something almost like hope rose in his bright amber eyes when she met his gaze. A relieved smile wiped the fear off his face.

“Nyota.” Arjun’s voice in her ear, a long sigh of relief. Other voices, worried, demanding news. “Glad to see you’re up again. You scared us.”

“You! Why are you still moving?” Asra Nox demanded, all but snarling, gripping the dragon’s horn so tight in her fury that her knuckles went white.

“Sorry to worry you,” Nyota murmured, half to her crew, half to the young man in front of her. Whatever had woken her, she didn’t know how long it would last. Her own rifle was smoking plastic and slag on the rock. She raised Lana’s instead; her shot smashed the plating off a massive rib, the shock almost knocking the dragon’s rider off and sending the fire blast far off course. “What’s your name, boy?” she asked, risking a glance back.

“Tarvei, ma’am!” He scrambled to his feet, stowing the staff again and drawing a pair of daggers as more Occasus got too close.

 _Tarvei?_ _No. Time to think later._ “Tarvei, disregard what I said before,” Nyota said, taking aim again as the bone dragon steadied itself. “Watch my back. Deal with the Occasus however you can. I’ll handle the dragon.”

-

Mog slid down the rocky slope, landing expertly on Tarvei’s back and shooting a cultist who got too close. “I dunno what all that was about, but we’ve found a pretty pickle, eh?” she asked, getting a better grip so Tarvei didn’t knock her off as he twisted and dodged.

“Talk later, shoot now!” Tarvei was panting hard as he ducked another blade and stabbed the cultist wielding it. He spotted an archer taking aim at the captain and flung his other dagger into them. Using the staff had left him unsteady, but he couldn’t retreat. Captain Saimiri was counting on him. _It’s not like these guys will let me run, anyway,_ he thought, drawing a spare dagger as another swordsman charged him.

Seeing Captain Saimiri fight up close was an entirely different experience. Geo was right; she moved like a dancer, handling the rifle as if it were a part of her, shifting to dagger without missing a step when the footsoldiers drew too close. But the rhythm was off. Her steps faltered. Vei could almost feel her pulling up energy she didn’t have, forcing herself to keep going.

“Mog! Can you take care of the cultists?” he called.

“Can a fish swim? Ha! Eat this, ya bastard!”

Nyota staggered and fell heavily as her legs just gave out from exhaustion. She managed to catch herself, cutting her hands on the rough stone, but her body refused to cooperate as she tried to stand again. No strength left. She heard Nox high above her, shouting orders, and fired blindly at the voice, a tired smirk forming as the commands turned into a startled yell. A miss, but a very satisfying one.

She knew what would come next, tried one last time to stand. She got halfway up before her left leg seized so badly it sent stars spinning in front of her eyes. Someone grabbed her around the waist and dragged her aside as she collapsed; she bit back a scream as the touch sent a surge of agony through the burns on her back. A split second later, a fireball smashed down where she had been crouching, ground splitting under the heat.

“Thank you,” Nyota gasped as Tarvei let go. She steadied herself against a low pile of charred rubble, all that remained of what had been a wooden scaffold before the dragon attacked. The rubble screened them from view, at least; she could just barely see Nox on the dragon, searching for them.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied, keeping one eye on the dragon. “Please tell me you have a plan.”

Nyota frowned. Pain made it hard to think clearly. The little penguin kept the Occasus busy for now, darting between their legs and raising hell with her twin pistols. The Occasus were almost tripping over each other in their efforts to attack without getting shot, but it was only a matter of time…

Nyota eyed the dragon again and dragged herself upright. “We need to lure it toward the castle,” she said. “Split her focus. Keep Asra distracted.”

“You can barely stand,” Tarvei insisted, lending his shoulder to support her. “Let me help.”

The captain shot him a suspicious look as he pulled out the strange staff again. “What are you…?”

Her words melted into a kind of sigh as energy surged through her. The pain in her back and leg, all of the tired stiffness, they vanished. She felt _alive_.

A cultist spotted them and shouted to Nox, and this time it was Nyota’s turn to drag Tarvei out of the way as a fire blast turned their shelter to rubble. “Get to the castle,” Nyota ordered him as soon as they were clear. “Tell Geo to aim for the dragon. Do you understand?”

Vei nodded. The light from the staff vanished as he sprinted for the gates, taking some of the vitality with it, but Nyota ignored that and fired two shots into the dragon’s undamaged wing as Nox turned it to track Vei. “Eyes on me, Nox!” she called.

Nyota retreated slowly, buying time. Heat from the fireballs scorched her cheekbones, but she kept her gun trained on the dragon, firing whenever she wasn’t dodging, shifting her target only occasionally to pick off cultists when Tarvei’s penguin companion got surrounded. Deep cracks split through the plating, chunks falling off to expose metal underneath and send Occasus running for cover to avoid being crushed.

Then the keep’s shadow fell across her. She heard a reptilian voice calling orders and flung herself flat against the wall of the keep as arrows hissed through the air high above her, some glancing off the dragon’s armor, some striking true, some raining down on the Occasus below. Asra Nox clung to the dragon’s head, eyes ablaze with hate as her mount reared back, mouth opening wide—Nyota saw her chance and fired her last shot straight into the dragon’s open mouth.

Lana had modified that rifle to pierce Miniknog armor. The dragon’s inner workings stood no chance. The bullet ricochet twice; oil from the ruptured tubing spewed all through its frame and splattered across the cobbles below, igniting from the fireball’s first spark. Metal creaked and groaned; the wings cracked as the machine fought to maintain altitude. Nox’s face went white with fury.

“We’re done here! This is pointless anyway,” she called, locking eyes with Nyota. Even through the smoke and fire, the raw malice in her stare made the Apex bristle and bare her teeth in a defensive snarl. “You haven’t succeeded in stopping anything. This will all be gone soon.”

With that last threat, Nox and the surviving Occasus vanished. The skeleton of the bone dragon shattered and tumbled out of the sky.


	65. In the Dragon's Wake

Nyota leaned against the cold stones of the surviving tower as if she could draw their sturdiness into herself. Her body shook as she searched the sky and field for any sign of more Occasus. She could not believe it was over, not yet.

“Cautious. Is it gone? Are you intact? If it’s gone I need to talk to you.”

The Apex looked up at the sound of the Baron’s voice. A few glittering shapes watched her from the ramparts. Her vision swam; she couldn’t tell which was him. The Keep. She needed something from it. The Relic. _Focus…_

One foot slid forward, then the other, her shoulder grazing the rough stone. _Why is it so far…?_ Nyota stumbled. Darkness folded in around her, her fingertips trailing down the wall as she slid down. _Not yet…_ she thought, trying to fight as exhaustion dragged her eyes shut.

She came to with a Glitch standing beside her. “Concerned. Are you breathing?” The Baron asked, leaning over her.

“How… how long was I out?” Nyota asked, her voice still cracked with sleep. She was on her knees, leaning against the wall; her mouth tasted of grass and ashes, not a pleasant combination, and the cold had worked its way into her bones. Everything hurt, stiff and sore. _Nothing new there_ , she thought, bracing herself against the stones.

“Thoughtful. No more than a few minutes, I should think,” he told her as she stood up. “If you can walk, you should come inside. This is a poor place for a nap.” His visible eye glittered with humor.

Nyota managed a wry smile as she stretched the stiffness out of her legs and limped after him. She was still exhausted, but the dizziness had faded. “How did the others fare?”

“Optimistic. We survived, despite that mechanical lizard’s best efforts,” the Baron said cheerfully. “Which reminds me…” He led her over to a few crates and hefted an odd rifle, passing it to Nyota. “Generous. Lady Khayar said to tell you ‘It’s a pleasure,’ and asked me to pass this on to you, though I see you already have your own?”

Nyota took the rifle with a strange reverence, wondering if gifting weapons meant as much to Khayar’s people as it did to her own. “The one I carry is not mine. Tell Lady Khayar she has my thanks.”

Anxiousness bubbled up in her chest as the Baron led her through the main hall. Rubble littered the floor, Glitch servants already working on repairs. Nyota looked around, searching for familiar faces.

The Baron noticed her searching the crowd. “Indicative. Your friends are over by the stairs,” he said. “I will wait for you by my throne?”

Nyota bowed to him, the respect far more heartfelt now than it had been when they met an hour ago. “Thank you, my Lord.”

She found Geo sitting on the stairs, Tarvei slumped against the wall beside him. Mog was curled up against Vei’s side.

“Captain Saimiri. I am glad you survived,” Geo said, glancing up as he heard Nyota approach. His left hand was bandaged and he had a thin cut along one cheekbone, but it didn’t stop him from smiling in open relief.

“Likewise,” Nyota said, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice. It felt strange, that he was happy to see her. “You are injured.”

“They are only scratches,” the older Apex said, inspecting his hand ruefully. “Those humans were quicker than I had expected. Mog had it worse.” He indicated the penguin, who was snoring quietly. “Vei saw to her as soon as she got back.”

Nyota crouched down beside Tarvei. He was breathing, at least, but he did not react to her presence at all. “Is he alright?” she whispered.

“He is not hurt,” Geo reassured her. “Vei was already spent when he reached me. Healing Mog was too much. But he should be fine after resting… Those staves you two wield, they are powerful, and I am glad I have not tried them. They seem very taxing.”

Nyota nodded, relieved. It always astonished her, how peaceful people looked when they slept. Vei seemed so much younger, entirely unafraid. He shifted but did not wake when she pulled the old doll out of her pocket and set it in his hands. “Tell him I said ‘Thanks,’ when he wakes,” she said.

-

The Baron stood up as Nyota climbed the last steps to his throne. The gate to the relic opened at a simple gesture. “Galvanized. Take this artifact, and take me too,” he said. “I have a teleporter you can use. I’m coming with you. I think this business needs sorting out.” He paused for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the keep. “Reflective. Also, it’s quite boring here.”

The relic floated easily over to Nyota’s hand as she reached for it, almost as if it recognized her. “I am grateful for your assistance,” she said, “but I’m afraid you will have to make your way to the Ark on your own. Please, tell Esther I will join her once I have seen to my own business.”

The Baron nodded and led the way to an ancient, dusty teleporter. He hummed cheerfully to himself as he activated it. “Invigorated. Out into the great unknown!”

Nyota stepped into the teleporter after he vanished, setting the coordinates for her ship. _Time to go home._

**

Namina heard the teleporter activate, and caught the captain’s scent a moment later, tainted by a faint reek of scorched hair. He set the wire filigree he’d been fidgeting with down and stood up. There was a quiet thump, then a sound like coughing. He ran for the teleporter.

Nyota was half-lying against the wall, the noise in her throat too wretched to be a cough. She pushed herself up as Namina slid the door open and crouched down beside her. The Apex muttered something low and sharp before another gagging rasp interrupted and Namina caught the sharp scent of bile. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. Nyota gasped, startled, and the Floran found his wrist caught in a painfully strong grip before she recognized him.

“Namina!” She let go. “…Did I hurt you?”

“Floran iss fine.” Namina’s carapace was a little cracked, but he certainly wasn’t going to tell her that. His captain’s right shoulder was bloody, her back scorched, and she felt so cold in his arms… She shifted in his grasp and he set her down, keeping one arm at her uninjured shoulder in case she fell again. “Captain is sssick,” he hissed quietly.

Nyota showed her fangs, frustrated. “Motion sickness. It will pass. Where are the others? Did they make it back?”

Namina could practically smell the exhaustion rolling off her. This was more than just motion sickness. “Thisss way,” he said, guiding her down to the medical bay.

Oldarva was sitting in Lumen’s usual place by the apothecary table, crushing a vibrant root into thick paste. She looked up as they entered, Namina more carrying than leading now. “Captain!” Her tired, worried expression melted into a relieved smile, though some of the concern lingered as she saw the pain in Nyota’s eyes. “We were afraid that… We were starting to think we would have to send someone to bring you home.”

Nyota offered her a thin, tired smile. “Not this time.” She straightened up a bit, looking around the room. She could see Arrowmail and Sonny, at least. The Glitch occupied one of the beds by the far wall, his eyes dark, the green Novakid sitting beside him. Long rubber gloves protected Sonny’s hands from stray sparks as she carefully repaired his wiring and patched up the gash.

Namina could feel the worry though the tenseness in Nyota’s back, even if she didn’t let it show on her face. “Lights-friend iss with Hadley,” he said, indicating the far door.

“Is she…” Nyota’s voice trailed off and Namina shifted a little closer, ready to catch her, as he felt the tension vanish for an instant. The Apex blinked, her eyes focusing again. “Hadley. How is she?”

“She…” Oldarva bit her lip, twisting what was left of the root husk between her fingers. “It was not good,” she said softly. “Even one of our kind might not have… and Hadley is so small.” She shook her head, setting the root aside. “Lumen could tell you more, ma’am. He did not say much to us, just that he would do what he could.”

“I see.” Nyota touched Namina’s shoulder and gestured at the nearest bed. Her hands trembled.

“Hadley iss tough, jussst like Floran,” Namina told her as he guided her over to the bed and helped her sit down. “And Floran trusssts Lights-friend.”

Nyota whispered something that might have been a “Thank you” as her eyes slid shut. Namina caught her before she fell off the bed, a low worried sound curling in the back of his throat.

“It’s alright,” Oldarva reassured him, grabbing a spare medkit and sitting down beside them. “She’s only asleep. I am… surprised she held out this long.” She subtly checked that their captain was still breathing as she unhooked Nyota’s weapons from their carrying straps and eased her down onto her side.

Namina helped her remove the captain’s armor and watched as Oldarva began tending to Nyota’s injuries, studying how her hands moved. It was funny how they were shaped so very like his, but did such different things, marvelous things, like mending clothes or healing instead of hurting. He passed Oldarva a jar of cold salve as she started dealing with the burns across Nyota’s lower back, earning a surprised stare.

“Floran helpss,” he said, and the stare became a smile.

**

Heat. Tiny needles, pain prickling hot and thick down her spine, scouring her back. It spread, filled her body. No fire, just _burning_. Tunnels all around, smooth and solid, echoing with footsteps, but she could not feel her feet strike the floor. A rebel camp. She was eighteen again, a spy in their midst. Muffled voices, urgent, fearful—a raid? Nyota ran. The boy was ahead of her, the boy with the old scientist doll. She reached for him, tried to call out. Why couldn’t she remember his name?

Soldiers loomed out of the shadows, reaching, grasping, each touch at her fleeing back sending piercing fire skittering across her flesh. The boy was gone. Caught or fled, she didn’t know. And then he _was_ the soldier, lunging for her, pinning her down, sending pain shooting through her as she struck the ground. _I’m one of yours!_ she tried to say as his iron grip closed around her arms, but her words choked in her dry throat. He looked at her and she _knew_ he recognized her, saw a _traitor_ and raised his gun. She flinched _—_

A hand brushed her forehead. She shuddered as the bullet passed through her like a wisp of smoke. The soldiers dissolved. Light pressed on her eyelids, and the feeling of fingers, warm, smooth as glass. Not Apex? But there was an Apex voice whispering nearby. Mentor Aram? No, a woman… Her eyes flickered open, but all she saw was a shadow and a bright light. The shadow was speaking to her. A familiar scent, comforting.

“ _Adya?_ ” Nyota rasped. _Mother?_ But Mother had dark hair, like hers… This shadow was copper. _Who…?_ She felt the warmth pause, heard two voices, so far away. Then the woman’s voice resumed, soft and soothing, her hand brushing Nyota’s cheek, moving through her hair. Nyota leaned into the cool fingers, so pleasant against the heat in her face. She knew these words. A song. A lullaby. Her throat cracked as she echoed the lyrics, her voice not even a dry whisper. Something cold pressed against her lips. Water.  She drank. The fire inside her faded and died, and she sank gratefully back into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Adya" is an affectionate form of "Othem" (pronounced OHT-hem), so it may be closer to "Mama" than "Mother"


	66. Recovering

The bright light was sitting beside her bed when she woke again. “Do ya know me, Nyota?” he asked softly when her eyes opened.

“Lumen?” Nyota was lying in one of the medbay beds, with no memory of how she got there. Her body ached, her back strangely light and cold. She tried to sit up as her vision slid back into focus, felt an odd stiffness, and looked down to see bandages wrapped around her torso and right shoulder. There was an IV in her right arm. 

The Novakid hummed, a low sound of relief. “Good t’have ya back, Captain. Ya gave us quite a scare last night, springin’ a fever like that…”

Memories surfaced: the Baron’s keep, Occasus, Asra Nox, Lana, the dragon. Nyota opened her hand, half expecting the relic to still be clenched in her fist before she spotted it beside a glass of water on the bedside table.

“How long was I out?” she asked. Her voice was still rough, but with sleep this time, not soreness. 

“Not quite three days.”

Nyota closed her eyes, exhaling between her teeth. _That long._ She shouldn’t be surprised, she knew, but three days… “What did I miss? How are Hadley and Arrowmail?”

“Arrowmail’s doin’ fine. Sonny ‘n Arjun patched him up alright. Hadley…” Lumen whistled softly, flickering. “She’s a good sight better’n she was when ol’ Fern-fangs carried her in here,” he said, folding his long fingers together, “but it still ain’t too pretty. Our lil’ firebrand won’t be wakin’ up for a while yet. Cracked up about as bad as you were after that Stronghold, and that ain’t countin’ the concussion… But you an’ Sonny got her outta there alright.” Static hissed from his brand, his equivalent of a gentle sigh. “Humans are a sturdy lot. She’ll mend, given time.”

The Apex echoed his sigh as she opened her eyes again, trying to quiet the guilt that stung her throat. Hadley had volunteered, yes, but… “I am glad we met, Lumen,” she said quietly. “It seems we all end up owing you our lives several times over.”

Lumen leaned forward and pressed a hand to her forehead. Nyota flinched from the unexpected contact and he pulled back, chuckling. “Ya had me worried the fever was messin’ with yer head again there,” he teased. “It ain’t like ya to be all sentimental.”

Nyota opened her hands in a gesture of amused exasperation. “Am I not allowed to thank the medic for saving my crew?” she asked, smiling. “For that matter, how can you check my temperature? You’re warmer than I will ever be.”

That got another laugh. “Caught red-handed. Learned that trick from Eldie, but it ain’t any good when yer made of starstuff. Nah, Captain…” he said, standing up and collecting a blue jar from a nearby shelf, “it ain’t about owin’. I’d do this anyway. Ya gotta look after the folks ya love, right?”

He passed the jar to her. “I’ll be much obliged if ya drink that then, ma’am. My hands can’t tell, but yer face says yer still runnin’ a bit higher’n is good for ya. I’ll be back to check on ya in a little while.”

**

Two more days passed before Nyota could leave her bed for more than a few minutes at a time. She visited Hadley and Arrowmail as soon as she could walk without dizzy spells. The Glitch greeted her enthusiastically. “Happy. I am most glad to see you are up and about again, my lie—sorry, Captain,” he said, correcting himself. “Miss Sonny said you had fallen ill.”

“I am alright now,” Nyota reassured him, pulling her shawl a little tighter. The burns across her lower back had left her more acutely aware of the cold, even when no one else was bothered. “I had wanted to thank you, Arrowmail.”

“Quizzical. What for?” The Glitch tilted his head to one side; he was starting to pick up quite a few mannerisms from Sonny.

Nyota just smiled and shook her head. “Never mind. It’s good to see you mend quickly.”

Hadley showed no sign of waking when Nyota visited her later, beyond stirring slightly at the sound of the captain’s voice. Nyota remained at her bedside for a while, but she knew there was nothing she could do. _I hope Lumen was right_ , she thought, looking away from the girl’s bandaged face. It was strange, painfully so, seeing the bright, mischievous Hadley so still.

Work took her mind off the creeping worry and guilt, and Nyota found herself in the tech room, fiddling with her old earpiece as she patched the plastic and nudged the wires back into place. She was too engrossed in her work to pay much attention to the sound of the teleporter, or the voices that followed, until the door slid open.

“Captain?” Lumen tapped on the doorframe, a strangely amused hum in his voice. “Ya have a visitor.”

Nyota set her tools down and straightened the shawl before looking up. Heat rose in her face, but not from the burns this time. “Commander Blake,” she said, firmly bottling her emotions up again before they spoiled anything, “I am—it is good to see you.”

She could have sworn she heard Lumen chuckle softly as he headed back to whatever business he’d been working on.

“I apologize for intruding,” Lana said with a polite nod. There was a small bandage above her right eye, her left arm bound in a sling.

“It’s no intrusion,” Nyota reassured her, almost too quickly. She gestured silently at the spare chair and waited for Lana to sit down before saying, “May I ask what brought you here?”

“Geo reported back on what happened after I left. I had… wanted to see how you fared.” There was a strange hesitance in Lana’s voice, something Nyota had not expected from her of all people. It was almost… hopeful?

“I’m mending,” Nyota said simply. “As are you,” she added, indicating Lana’s arm.

The rebel smiled ruefully. “Yes, though not as quick as I would like. I will be off the front lines for a while yet,” she replied, absently loosening her scarf with her uninjured hand. It was clear the thought frustrated her.

“At least you still have all your fur,” Nyota said, half-joking as she shivered. “Strange how you don’t miss it until it’s gone…”

Lana leaned forward, intrigued. “What happened?”

“Burns,” Nyota explained, grimacing. “Which reminds me…” She stood up and walked over to the wall, sliding her locker open. She could feel Lana’s eyes on her back as she shifted her belongings aside and turned her back away, shame settling like lead in her gut as if Lana could see the ugly red bare patches through the layers of clothing and loose bandages. Visible hairlessness was as embarrassing among Apex as her fur had been among the humans on Earth.

But Lana either didn’t see or didn’t care, her face showing nothing but curiosity and a hint of amusement as she observed the small weapons cache that passed for Nyota’s belongings. “I assume you can use all of those?” she said, eyeing the solarium-infused katana Nyota had claimed from the Library.

“Not at the same time,” Nyota said, smiling again as she returned her daggers to their usual place on the door. Namina hadn’t been too neat putting things away after she returned. She wasn’t entirely sure why she offered, “I can demonstrate for you sometime, if you like.”

“Not anytime soon, ya can’t,” Lumen called from the next room over before Lana could answer.

“Shameless eavesdropper,” Nyota retorted, though she didn’t bother suppressing her small grin as she heard him laugh and walk away. Then she found what she’d been looking for. “Ah, here we are,” she said, turning around again and setting her find on the table. “This belongs to you.”

Lana hesitated for half a second before picking it up, almost in disbelief. “My rifle… You found it?”

Nyota laughed softly as she sat back down. “Would you believe I slew a dragon with it?”

“A dragon!” So that’s what Geo had been describing. The word felt strange on Lana’s tongue; if Apex had ever had their own word for dragon, it had been long lost, along with their past and stories. A small flare of envy flickered up as she tried to imagine it. “I wish I’d seen it,” she said at last.

“Believe me,” Nyota said, her shoulders hunched forward and arms crossed under her chest as she looked away, “you do not want to meet a dragon.”

This close, Lana caught the cold, sharp scent of burn salve and saw the signs of recent illness in the lines etched across Nyota’s face and the darkened skin under her eyes. She managed to suppress the worry before it touched her face, but couldn’t help appraising the woman across from her. Old habits died hard. The way Nyota sat, it was clear her back pained her, but the idea that she might have gotten injured while running away, that went against everything Lana had learned about her so far.

The answer clicked as soon as she thought that, and confused her further. “You were injured protecting Tarvei, weren’t you?” she asked, a hint of doubt creeping into her voice.

Nyota looked up, her eerily dark eyes catching the light as she met Lana’s gaze. “Come again?”

“You protected Tarvei.” Lana indicated Nyota’s shoulder, the bandages that were barely visible under her collar. The location and the extent of damage both spoke of Nyota putting herself in the line of fire, but the idea of one of the Miniknog sacrificing herself for someone else, even if she was ex-Miniknog…

“I… yes,” Nyota confirmed. She was wary now, uncertain, but there was no lie in her voice.

Lana studied her, trying to read her as she pressed further. “Even though he’s not one of yours?” she asked. As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew she had asked the wrong question.

Something snapped. Lana saw it happen, saw the flicker of hurt before Nyota went deadly still, emotion shut out of her face so sharply that Lana could almost feel the walls go up between them.

“What kind of heartless bitch do you think I am?” Nyota whispered, her low voice as hard and cold as steel. “He would have _died_. Do you think I would watch? I am a Protector, Lana Blake. I gave myself to the Terrene Protectorate and all it stands for as soon as I had a self to give! _To protect our fellow beings_. Their creed. My creed. Even with the Earth gone, that has not changed.”

Silence stretched between them. Lana’s pride and dignity both snarled at Nyota’s words, but regret drowned them both. It felt like something had broken. _I have never thought of her as anything but Miniknog,_ Lana realized, _and she knows it._ “Captain Saimiri, I…”

The walls dropped and Nyota looked away. Her shoulders were still stiff, hands clenched, but her eyes held no anger; she looked so very tired. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, her voice tight. “I… I should not have lost my temper.”

Lana shook her head. “No, I deserved that,” she said. Something inside her was aching. “My apologies, Captain Saimiri.” She stopped—her own voice was too sharp, too fast, and the regret grew as she saw Nyota’s jaw tighten. Lana took a deep breath, let it out, and held out her hand. “I am sorry.”

For all that she had stood her ground against the Occasus, openly defied the Miniknog, and faced down their soldiers without flinching, Lana didn’t quite have the courage to look up until she felt the captain’s fingers curve around hers.

“Haven’t we earned the right to trust each other yet?” Nyota asked softly.

“I already trust you,” Lana said without stopping to think, and realized two things. First, that she meant it, and second, when the other woman looked up at her and offered a fragile but undoubting smile, that Nyota Saimiri was beautiful.

The moment ended as quickly as it began, but more gently, changing the taste of regret to something softer and less bitter as both women let go. Lana stood up; she had already stayed too long and would undoubtedly have to fend off Rodim’s ire for this, but she lingered a moment longer to ask, “May I visit you again?”

Nyota’s smile grew steadier as she nodded, and the feeling of breaking began to mend. 


	67. Harmony

Arrowmail woke up on the library sofa, stiff with terror, trying to banish that last vision from his mind. His whole body felt heavy, like his joints were made of rust.

Six days had passed since the battle at the Baron’s Keep, a battle he couldn’t help seeing again every time he slept. The details were different every time: sometimes it was their captain trapped under the rubble, too hurt to free herself. Sometimes it was Arrowmail himself, clawing at the stones until even his metal fingers cracked. Dreams had never been like this before he became self-aware…

The worst version had just woken him: the Occasus bearing down on him again, laughing, swords raised to kill, but with Sonny’s face, Sonny’s voice! He shuddered, remembering again the cold steel biting through his side, her face and the cultist’s melding in his mind…

There was a sudden rattling nearby and he couldn’t quite stifle a low startled drone. The stiffness evaporated as he looked over, just in time to hear another rattle, like a tinny little purr. Sonny sat next to him, head bowed and light dim, fast asleep. She had all but clung to him and Hadley lately, as if she was afraid to leave them for long after the Keep. Just the sight of her now chased away the last wisps of his nightmare. Arrowmail felt his circuits warm with happiness.

She snored again, shifted a little too far in her sleep, and jolted awake as she fell off her cushion. The Glitch shouted in alarm and lunged, managing to catch her.

“Good golly wha—oh, hi Arrowmail.” She shook herself with a slightly wavering hum, then turned toward him. “Arrow? Hey, you okay?”

“Pained. I am alright, Miss Sonny,” the Glitch replied, leaning back stiffly. Moving that quickly had not been wise with his body still adapting to the repairs.

“You sure? I can getcha somethin’ from Lumen,” she offered, standing up. Her light wavered a bit and Arrowmail had to catch her again as she lost her balance. “Ooh, nope, that ain’t no good…”

“Worried. Are you ill?” Arrowmail asked as he helped her sit down again.

Sonny shook her head. “Nah, I ain’t sick… jus’ sleepy…” The last words came out in a fractured slur as she dimmed again, leaning back against the cushions.

-

“Ah, I was afraid of this…” Lumen muttered as he put the bruise salves away. Arrowmail had found him beside Hadley’s bed, checking up on her again. Six days, and still no sign of waking… The orange Novakid shook his head, looking up at Arrowmail. “Dim, sleepin’ too much, and dizzy spells. Sounds like that little glowbug ain’t been eatin’ like she should.”

“Bewildered. She is trying to starve herself?” An awful surge of fear shot through Arrowmail

Lumen shook his head. “It ain’t _tryin’_ , I’m thinkin’… Sonny’s feelin’ mighty low, I wager. She’s a bright ol’ spark, but she feels it core-deep if the folks around her are hurtin’.” He brushed the hair back from Hadley’s face, adding softly, “An’ some of ‘em are hurtin’ real bad right now.”

-

Sonny woke up from another dream of distant stars to a smooth hand on her shoulder. “Eh… Arrow? Whassit?” She shook herself as the sleep-haze faded, but it didn’t vanish completely.

“Enticing. I brought something to show you,” Arrowmail said. He held up a strange-shaped case.

“Eh?” she said, sitting up a bit more. “Whatcha got there?” It was hard to muster the energy to even lift her head, but curiosity got the better of her. She had almost forgotten that case. It was the only thing he’d brought with him from Tessera Sigma.

“Amused. Just a moment…” Arrowmail sat down on the chair across from her and opened it. Sonny lit up she caught sight of a beautifully made violin.

“You’re a fiddler?” she asked, fizzing with delight. “Yeehaw! Go on, play a reel!”

Her sleepiness retreated a little more as he laughed, making a wonderful sound like a deep brass bell, and started tuning the strings. It only took a minute of work before he paused, tapped his bow a few times to catch the beat, and launched into the liveliest jig she’d ever heard.

Bubbles of light whirled in Sonny’s plasma as the music took hold of her. She wanted to dance. She wanted to dance so badly. Her feet tapped on the floor, fingers playing out the tune, but her legs gave out as she tried to stand and she flopped back onto the cushions. A low wavering whine, almost a sob, escaped her. “I just can’t, Arrowmail,” she moaned, leaning against him as he set the violin down. “I ain’t got the spark for it.”

Arrowmail gingerly put one arm around her, patting her shoulder soothingly. “Caring. That can be remedied,” he offered, holding out a green glass bottle, one of Lumen’s ‘emergency fuel’ jars.

Sonny looked at the bottle, looked at him, and took it. She didn’t feel any desire to drink it, but she _needed_ to dance… to feel _happy_ right now. “Aren’t you sly,” she hummed, taking the jar from him. “Teasin’ me like that… But I thank ya for it. Maybe… that’s why I need someone like you.” One bottle wasn’t close to enough for days without food, but she stood up anyway as Arrowmail put his bow to the strings.

Oldarva looked up from her sewing, Arjun paused in his vent repairs, Aggy and Namina left off their shooting match, and Nyota set aside her work as music and laughter drifted through the ship. Lumen heard the song and hummed contentedly, shining brighter than he had in a long time. The song brought back feelings long forgotten, feelings echoed in Sonny’s laughter. “Well now, ain’t he clever…”

A hand touched his wrist. “Don’t let him stop playing,” Hadley rasped, her violet eyes fixed on his face. “Don’t let him stop. I’ve never heard her laugh like this.”

**

The bow sang over the strings as Arrowmail coaxed tune after tune from them, eyes dim with concentration as his foot tapped the rhythm against the floor. Sonny laughed and spun, letting the music carry her until she was dancing as wild and weightless as the wind.

Neither of them missed a beat when Arjun dimmed the library’s lights until Sonny’s glowing body left trails of light and sparks in the air. Aggy nodded along, his dark eyes thoughtful as they reflected Sonny’s bright green glow. Beside him, Namina couldn’t help moving to the beat, hips swaying and bare feet clicking along the floor.

Oldarva put a hand on his elbow and whispered in his ear, “Try to resist a little? Let them have their moment.” She was smiling, though, her eyes glittering as she felt the love in Arrowmail’s music. It was so sweet and shy, like a stolen kiss, like the first man who’d ever called her beautiful…

The Floran looked over at her, his happy smile turning just a bit sly. “Apex makes water with eyess, should make dance with feet,” he hissed.

“Wait, what are you—oh!”

Nyota shook her head, laughing quietly as Namina pulled Oldarva back into the lounge and spun her into the dance. At least he had the sense not to barge through the library. “Poor Eldie,” she whispered, grinning.  Part of her wished she had thought to grab a camera; the way Sonny was flickering now, she knew the Novakid wouldn’t be up for dancing by the time she got back. But something told her this was far from the last time she’d get to see this.

“I’d ask ya for a dance, Captain, but yer a bit too tall for me.”

Nyota twitched, but her hands stayed still instead of jumping to where her dagger usually rested. “You know it’s not wise to startle me, Lumen,” she said, her face calm.

The orange Novakid chuckled. “Captain, if I was gonna die for spookin’ ya, I wouldn’t’ve made it off Megrez.” He tilted his head as he watched Sonny and Arrowmail, his own glow brightening even more than Sonny’s as his fingers tapped the tune against the doorframe. “She’s real purdy out there.”

Nyota glanced down at him. “Are you remembering again?” she asked softly.

Lumen shook his head. “Nah, her ma had two left feet,” he said with an amused hum. “Dancin’ is all Sonny.” He was silent for a long moment before saying, so quietly that Nyota barely even heard him speak, “I kinda envy them.”

Before Nyota could ask what he meant, Sonny stumbled. With a low, metallic whine, her glow dropped to nothing more than a dying candle. Arrowmail immediately stopped playing, barely remembering to set his violin aside before he caught her. Sonny’s form seemed to waver as the Glitch guided her to the sofa and helped her sit down.

Lumen went almost white as he ran over to them, pulling a small green vial from his vest pocket. “Steady there, little glowbug,” he murmured. “I ain’t about t’let ya snuff it.”

“Lumen?” Sonny’s voice was calm but strangely warped, her hand trembling as she took the vial. “Whatcha doin’ up here? Thought you were in the medbay…”  Her own color faded. “Did somethin’ happen to Hadley?”

“Hadley’s fine. Drink.”

“Frightened. Sir, what is happening?” Arrowmail asked. “I… I didn’t meant to…”

Lumen shook his head and signaled for quiet, steadying Sonny’s hands so she didn’t spill anything. The liquid from the vial refused to ignite. The orange Novakid made a quiet sound like fragmented static and muttered an apology, then gently pressed both hands to the sides of her face. She whined softly as his brand glowed with heat, but the fuel caught, sending ribbons of light coiling through her.

“Yer fine… it ain’t yer fault,” Lumen told Arrowmail with a low hum halfway between worry and relief as Sonny sank back against the cushions, rubbing her face. “How hot do yer folk get? And Captain, could ya get a blanket or two? She needs to stay warm right now, and I ain’t got the fire to do this for long.”

When Nyota returned with a pair of fireproof blankets, Arrowmail was sitting beside Sonny, one arm wrapped around her as she leaned against his shoulder. The Glitch leaned forward so Nyota could wrap the blankets around them without burning her hands; metal faces couldn’t blush, but the captain could have sworn he looked pleasantly embarrassed as Sonny snuggled a little closer.

Lumen returned a few moments later, carrying several of his little green jars. He sat in front of them and passed one to Sonny. Her hand was a bit steadier this time, burning brighter as the fuel caught.

“Sorry to scare you,” Sonny mumbled as she emptied the first one and gratefully accepted a second. “I just… forgot how to keep goin’ there, until I heard the song… Lumen? Why _did_ you come up?”

“I got ya another reason to keep goin’,” Lumen told her. “Hadley’s awake.”

The empty bottle slipped from her fingers as Sonny froze, shattering on the floor. “She’s okay? You mean it?” The green Novakid fizzed with static, crying as she flung her arms around Lumen and buried her face in his shoulder.

Lumen laughed, his glow bright as he hugged her back. “Of course I do. Ya know I can’t lie to ya, little glowbug. She’s gonna be fine.”


	68. Gossip and Pancakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's so short. Spacing is a bit tricky this time around. Two more chapters before the final arc begins.

Laughter echoed into the kitchen, only slightly muffled by the door in the way. Nyota looked up from absently flipping the last pancake onto the plate and smiled. She could hear three voices from the medbay; it sounded like Sonny was telling a story. She grabbed the butter pot and a few sets of silverware, balanced the pancake plate in her other hand, and headed through just in time to hear Hadley ask, “You’re really taken with him, aren’t you?”

“Boy howdy,” Sonny hummed, making a noise like a small but enthusiastic tea kettle. Her face was almost painfully bright as she laughed. “Can ya blame me? He’s too charmin’! And he’s so fine and silver and sturdy! No offense, Hadley, but humans are squishy, pink, and _weird_.”

Hadley laughed, then winced. “Ow. Nah, I’m fine,” she insisted, pressing one hand to her side as Oldarva set her mending aside with a worried look. Then she looked up and spotted Nyota and her eyes went wide, surprised and almost guilty. “Oh! Captain! Uh…”

“May I join you?” Nyota asked, holding up the pancakes. Hadley’s face lit up, which Nyota took as a _yes_ and pulled up a chair before dishing out pancakes.

“Yeehaw, flapjacks!” Sonny exclaimed, happily swallowing an entire pancake whole. “You got good timin’, Captain. We were just getting’ to the good part.”

“The good part of what?” Nyota eyed Hadley thoughtfully as the girl’s face went red.

Oldarva shook with silent laughter as she started sewing again. “We were just trading gossip, ma’am, and one thing led to another,” she said, smiling. “I think Hadley mentioned a fondness for… what was it, dark hair and ‘sturdy shoulders?’”

Nyota considered the comment, ignoring Hadley’s hissed _Eldie! Don’t tell the captain!_ and Sonny’s giggling. “Strong shoulders are nice,” she agreed, and they both went silent, “but softer are better. Have you ever tried holding someone with bony shoulders?”

Hadley grinned as her cheeks went pink. “Sounds like you have, Captain.”

“I _was_ your age once,” Nyota said, leaning back and smiling. “Let’s say I didn’t _always_ arrest them.”

Sonny hummed, amused. “That commander lady has nice shoulders.”

Oldarva cleared her throat in the silence that followed as Nyota fixed an appraising stare on Sonny and Hadley stifled a laugh. “Captain, what do you look for, then?”

The slight frost in Nyota’s expression vanished. “Physical, I assume?” she asked, rubbing her cheek thoughtfully. “Legs, I’d say. Arms are all well and good, but show me a fine, strong pair of legs any day.” Her right hand traced a gesture in the air that made Sonny trill, Oldarva laugh, and Hadley turn scarlet.

“Captain!”

“She did ask.” Nyota’s tone was completely unrepentant, her eyes glittering with more than a little mischief.

“The commander has _nice_ legs,” Sonny said in a stage-whisper, snagging another pancake from the platter.

Nyota ignored her, though her ears did show the faintest blush. “Your turn, Eldie.”

“M-me?” Oldarva stammered. She squeaked as she pricked her thumb with the sewing needle.

“Of course.” Nyota paused to take a bite of her pancake; it was starting to cool off, but she didn’t mind. “You got my answer. It’s only fair that we get yours.”

Oldarva’s short coppery hair hid her face as she bent over her sewing, needle flashing furiously through the cloth. “Hands,” she mumbled at last.

“What? Don’t make me lean forward to hear,” Hadley insisted. “Lumen’ll grouse at me.”

“I like hands,” Oldarva repeated, her fingers slowing as she teased a knot into place. “I like watching them move.”

There was another silence as the others considered this. Hadley nodded, slowly and deliberately, before saying, “The captain has _very_ nice hands.”

“I appreciate the sentiment,” Nyota said, keeping a carefully blank face as Sonny crackled with laughter and Oldarva’s whole face went pink. “Now eat your pancakes before they get cold.”

“Yes, Ma,” Hadley sighed, and took a bite with dramatic slowness. Her eyes widened and she quickly cut another one. “Sonnyyy, why didn’t you tell me they were this good?”

Nyota’s quiet laughter went almost unnoticed under Oldarva’s chuckle and Sonny almost falling off her chair.


	69. Mishap

“Keep your hands up,” Nyota said, nudging Oldarva’s elbow higher. “Good. Ready?”

Oldarva nodded and braced herself, remembering to relax just in time to block a series of quick jabs. The impacts made her arms ache and forced her to move faster than she’d though herself capable of, but she found herself grinning expectantly, like a child waiting to be praised, as Nyota stepped back.

She was not disappointed. “Very good,” Nyota told her with an approving nod.  “You didn’t flinch that time. You have been practicing, I see.”

“Namina helped me,” Oldarva admitted, rubbing her arm. “He’s very… enthusiastic?”

Nyota nodded in agreement before her expression shifted to slight concern. “Are you hurt?” she asked. “Did I hit too hard?”

“N-no,” Oldarva said, dropping her arms quickly. “It’s just a little sore, that’s all.” What would the captain think of her, three sessions in and still unable to hold up even when she knew Nyota was going easy on her?

Nyota sighed. “It’s alright,” she said, her voice low and soothing. “You haven’t done anything wrong. If I hurt you, then it’s my fault. Here, let me take a look.”

Oldarva obediently held out her arm and held still as Nyota rolled her sleeve back; the captain’s fingers were gentle as she inspected Oldarva’s arm, parting her gingery fur and occasionally prodding along the bone. “Nothing serious,” Nyota said eventually, letting go, “and no bruising as far as I could tell. But I think that will be enough blocking for one day.”

“But we’ve barely started,” Oldarva protested, and immediately bit her lip. _Don’t talk back,_ that was the first rule every Apex child learned.

But Nyota was smiling, thoughtful. “You _have_ made progress,” she said, and the pride in her voice sent a wonderful warmth down Oldarva’s back. “Don’t worry. We’re only done with blocking. There is still plenty for you to learn before I set off tomorrow.”

Oldarva was about to ask what she meant, but Nyota was already demonstrating a different stance for her, how to hold her hips and elbows and what to do with her hands.

“Remember to keep your thumb folded across your fingers,” Nyota reminded her as Oldarva imitated what Nyota showed her. “And do not tuck it under them. That is a good way to get your thumb broken. I’ve seen classmates learn that the hard way. There.”

It only took twenty minutes of called advice and occasional adjustments to Oldarva’s stance before the tailor was throwing punches quickly and accurately enough to earn another pleased nod from Nyota. “You learn fast, Eldie,” the captain said. She stepped in front of Oldarva, taking a defensive stance. “Now, try and apply what you’ve learned.”

“You… want me to hit you?” Oldarva was too surprised to be mortified at how her voice squeaked.

Nyota’s hands dropped slightly. “Well… yes?” she said. “You said, _I want to fight._ You will have to hit things eventually. Best way to learn is against a person. Relax… it’s just like what we were doing earlier, just with our roles reversed. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, you can get creative.”

Oldarva swallowed hard, bit her lip, and threw a weak right hook that was almost contemptuously blocked. Her second attempt was a bit more confident, at least, though Nyota barely had to move to dodge it. “Focus. Your form is sloppy.”

“Yes, ma’am…” It got easier after that, somehow. Oldarva started to find a rhythm, and Nyota started having to move to block or dodge. After a minute, Oldarva was steady enough with the punches to branch out. _Get creative,_ Nyota had said. She ducked back, earning a confused look, then spun into an improvised high kick that got a startled laugh as Nyota ducked out of the way by a hair’s breadth.

“Clever!” Nyota called, signaling a break so Oldarva could catch her breath. “That was one of mine, wasn’t it? I don’t think I taught you that yet?”

“I watched you and Namina,” Oldarva admitted, panting slightly. “You move too fast for me to follow most of the time, but I got a little…”

“The rest will come with practice,” Nyota reassured her. “You imitated it almost perfectly. We’ll perfect that, then one more round before we hit the showers. I still have to make breakfast.”

-

The last round of practice started well. Oldarva found it almost like a game: how fast she could move without being scolded for sloppiness, and how hard she could make Nyota work to block her. Not very hard, admittedly, but she could tell by the pride and competitive spark starting to show in Nyota’s eyes that she was improving.

“We’ll need to work on your strength next time,” Nyota said as she evaded Oldarva’s left fist.

Oldarva nodded, too focused to answer out loud.  It took all her concentration to keep going, not because of the fatigue so much as the old conditioning of _do not fight_ that had been instilled in her. _It’s alright,_ Oldarva told herself as Nyota deflected another kick. _She said I could. I have permission. It’s alright._ She could feel a fine sweat building under her fur; a shower would feel so good after this.

Then, whether because Nyota faltered or through sheer luck, a hit got through: Oldarva’s heel struck against Nyota’s left thigh. It should have been a harmless blow; Oldarva didn’t have the strength to really hurt her. But she saw the captain’s eyes go wide, heard the sharp intake of breath as Nyota’s leg buckled and the color left her face.

Nyota crumpled to the floor with a low groan, left leg frozen at a painful angle beneath her. She tried to push herself up as Oldarva buried the sudden panic and ran over.

“Nyota!”

“I’m fine,” Nyota gasped, hand pressed against her leg where she’d been hit. “Get Lumen!”

The command snapped Oldarva into movement, sending her scrambling downstairs. She reached the medbay before her brain even caught up with her. “Lumen!” she called.

The bewildered Novakid slid the door open. “Eldie? What the blue blazes—are ya alright?” he asked.

“Nyota’s hurt,” Oldarva panted. “I don’t know what’s wrong. We were sparring, and—”

Lumen had already ducked back into the room and started rummaging through his supplies. “Try an’ calm down a bit, Eldie. I can’t help if I can’t make sense of it. She’s conscious?”

“Yes. She told me to find you.” Oldarva could barely speak. _My fault. I hurt her. Shouldn’t have tried. I hurt her. Captain’s hurt. My fault._

“Eldie!” Lumen’s voice broke though the litany as he touched her arm, his hand warm, solid and reassuring. “Tell me what happened. I’m gettin’ supplies now. How bad is it?”

Oldarva took a deep breath. Stay calm. She could help now. She could help fix this. “I hit her leg and she collapsed. I did not see any blood, but… she’s in a lot of pain.”

“Ach. Been wonderin’… Here we go.” Lumen’s fingers collected two more bottles and he gestured for Oldarva to lead him upstairs.

Nyota had managed to drag herself mostly upright by the time they got back, though her efforts to shift her weight from her leg to her hip produced only shallow, pained gasps, her face pale and her movements jerky and stiff. “You move fast,” she said with a thin, relieved smile as she caught sight of them. “Please…”

“What happened, Nyota?” Lumen asked, gently shifting her legs as Oldarva caught her under the arms and helped her move into something closer to sitting.

“Ahhg… thank you…” Nyota sighed, leaning back as Oldarva sat down to support her. She tried to straighten her left leg, hissed, and pressed her fingertips against her shin, trying to work the stiffness out. Her grimace said it wasn’t doing much good. “It’s just an old wound acting up. I should have worn the brace today, but it’s been so quiet… I got careless.”

Lumen passed her two small pills and a glass of water. “Take these, it’ll help. Mind if I take a look?” Nyota swallowed the painkillers, then gestured for him to go ahead. He rolled up her pant leg and crackled softly at what he saw. Three thin, jagged scars twisted around Nyota’s left leg, two coiled around her shin and the longest stretching up past her knee, ugly and pale through her dark grey fur.

“What… happened?” Oldarva whispered. She felt Nyota stiffen and immediately regretted asking before she realized the reaction was in response to Lumen laying a hand flat against the longest scar.

The question got a bitter laugh. “If you find the Miniknog records, it was a training accident,” Nyota said. She began to relax as the heat in Lumen’s palm eased the tension in her leg.

Lumen hummed. “Whatever did this, it wasn’t an accident,” he muttered. “I ain’t as sensitive as Sonny, but these are _deep._ ”

“It was no accident,” Nyota agreed softly. She sighed again, less relieved, more tired. “I can tell the story, if you wish… It will be some time before I can move again.”


	70. Never Turn Your Back

“Much of this was relayed to me after,” Nyota began. “I was… in no shape to see it. It was a routine part of our training, a simple sparring match. I was sixteen years old. Savas was eighteen.”

“Savas?” Oldarva asked.

Another bitter laugh. “The man I was paired with. He fancied himself my rival, in his way. I ignored him.” Nyota closed her eyes and called up the memory of the day that had upended her life.

-

“Nonlethal, is it? Disappointing.”

Nyota ignored the scorn in Savas’s voice as she selected a metal staff from the rack and tested its balance. Solid, well-weighted. No defects. “You may choose what you like,” she said, whirling it slowly between her hands. “The rules are clear on that. Do not let my preferences limit you.”

Savas snorted and cycled through until he found a sword to his liking. “Blunt and weak. You won’t be killing any rebels with that.”

_CRACK._

“A staff is quite deadly in the right hands,” Nyota said calmly, the tip of her weapon leveled an inch from Savas’s nose. “And a live rebel is information. You should know that, Agent.” Her slight smile didn’t waver, despite the sting in her right palm, as she tightened her grip on the staff. A little pain was worth seeing the look on Savas’s face.

“Saimiri!” Mentor Yvena’s voice was sharp and warning, like she was calling a dog to heel.

Nyota stepped back and slung the staff over her back, trying not to enjoy his flinch too much. “I did not touch him. No rules were broken,” she said, bowing her head in acknowledgement of the reprimand.

But Yvena’s opinion did not really matter to Nyota anyway. As she turned toward the stairs, she caught the approval in her own mentor’s stare, the smile that never reached past the corners of his eyes. She knew that look, and read the silent words in his gestures. _Unbalance. Good. The battle does not begin with the first blow._

Nyota slid her earpiece on as she reached the top of the stairs; she could see Savas doing the same. Their mentors would be allowed to guide them and offer advice for this, but it would be up to her skill to make Aram proud. Savas was taller, older, stronger…

She flicked her hair back over her shoulder, looping an elastic band around the thick mass to keep it out of her face. “Ready, sir.”

 -

 _Block one, yield two. Lead him—steady. Pace it._ The sword cracked and rang against her staff as Nyota parried and sidestepped Savas’s heavy blows. He slashed and lunged, never quite reaching too far—but Nyota wasn’t letting him overreach yet. Her feet skipped lightly over the floor just out of his reach, never still for more than the moment it took to brace herself against his swing— _make it convincing_ —and then she was off again, hemming him in, making him dance.

“Nyota.” Aram’s voice cut through her earpiece, and Nyota caught his eye as she led Savas around again. His stare held amusement, yes, but also a hint of impatience. Neither reached his voice. “You have humiliated him enough. Stop playing.”

“Yes, sir.”

Savas’s face registered an instant of surprise as Nyota spoke aloud, and then shock as she planted her feet and held her ground. Her heels ground into the floor as she caught his sword on her staff. Her grip tightened, tendons tense as steel cables, and she shoved him back.

The rhythm changed. It was her turn to dance now, staff hissing and singing through the air as she landed stinging blows across her opponent’s body. She could smell his sweat, his fear, as all the confidence she’d built up for him came crashing down. Savas stumbled, backed up one step, then two. Yvena was snarling advice, loud enough for Nyota to hear. _Useless._

Savas tried one last lunge, fast and desperate. Nyota twisted aside, saw steel flash past her eyes and heard the quiet snick as it bit the elastic in her hair. Then her staff rebounded off his knees, his hips, his head, and Savas was flat on his back, Nyota planting its tip in the middle of his chest.

Her long hair slid loose down her back as Nyota leaned on the staff, breathing slow and deep. _Keep the mask._ It would be so much more satisfying to let him think she’d beaten him without any effort at all. “Do you yield?” she asked.

Savas only growled and tried to knock her off him, reaching for his sword. Nyota slammed her foot down on his wrist, earning a pained cry. “Know your limit. Do you yield?” she repeated, putting all her weight on his wrist and her staff.

“I… yield,” he gasped, and Nyota stepped back. She held out her hand, ready to help him up. The game was over; they were allies again. But Savas just snarled and sat up, rubbing his wrist and otherwise ignoring her. Nyota waited a few seconds longer, in case he saw sense, but impatience won out and she turned away, heading for the stairs to return her weapon.

She could see their mentors beyond the viewing window. Yvena had turned away. Her student’s complete inability to control the match had shamed them both. Aram was watching Nyota, though, his shoulders relaxed and eyes fixed on her face. He nodded slowly when Nyota met his gaze, and she felt a smile brighten the corners of her mouth. He was pleased, and Aram was not easy to please.

Something metallic whispered behind her. Then Savas spoke, almost too quiet to hear. “Never turn your back on an enemy.”

Nyota did not get time to react. Something silver flickered just below the edge of her vision. Then pain shot up her left leg, sharp, blinding. Her shoulder struck the floor before she knew she was falling. Liquid splattered beneath her, thick and hot. _Blood? How…? Where did… I am… bleeding?_ Her thoughts were a broken jumble as she felt heat rush through her, shadows biting into the edges of her sight.

Something pulled at her leg, _into_ her leg, and the world went white for an instant; when sight returned, her ears were ringing with her own scream. She couldn’t feel her left leg anymore. She could barely feel anything. So much blood. Savas stood over her, hazy, unfocused. _He did this._ Nyota pushed herself onto her right side and tried to jab him with the staff. He took the hit straight in the gut and stumbled, surprised, but the blow was weak, her grip slack. She barely had the strength to hold her head up. Savas wrenched the staff from her hands and struck back. Pain exploded across her chest; her back slammed the ground and everything went dark.

-

Savas raised the staff again; her eyes were still open. She was faking. Had to be. He swung down and heard the crack, felt it stop short as he was suddenly staring into the cold, blazing eyes of Aram Isret.

“Give me your belt,” Aram demanded. The staff was caught on his forearm; he showed no sign of pain, standing between Savas and his fallen pupil. Savas didn’t move.

“ _Now._ ”

-

Belt in hand, Aram crouched beside Nyota. He looped it under her left thigh, pulling as tight as he could without worsening the damage. Blood had already soaked through the young woman’s trousers, spreading slowly along the floor. He could just see some kind of wire twisted through her lower leg, ending in a long, cruel gash just above the knee. How Yvena’s protégé had snuck something like that in, where he had gotten it… No. It didn’t matter. Aram drowned the cold fury in his gut, his fingers easing the jagged filament out of his student’s wounds with a gentleness that would surprise anyone who knew him. Punishment could wait until after he had made sure she survived.

Nyota’s face had gone a sickly grey, her lips almost white, but she stirred at his touch. “A-aram, sir?” Her voice was little more than a sigh.

“I am here.”

She relaxed; her eyes were glassy, dazed and confused, her breathing too fast, too shallow. “S…sorry, I…”

“Ssh…” He touched her shoulder, took her too-cold hand in his. “You did nothing wrong.” He saw her eyelids slide lower. “Stay awake, Saimiri. That’s an order.”

She rasped something incoherent and he felt her fingers shift briefly in his. Her hand trembled, but she kept her eyes fixed on his face like a drowning man watching the shore as Aram shrugged his jacket off and draped it over her, then curled his hand around hers again. Her breathing slowed, just for a moment, under its warmth and familiar scent.

Footsteps raced toward them, three pairs, one familiar. “Yvena.” Aram looked up and let the mask slip for just an instant, let her see the fury underneath. “Discipline your student,” he hissed, “or I will do it for you.”

Yvena said nothing, only nodded and gestured for Savas to follow her. The paramedics she had brought joined Aram in kneeling beside his student. Nyota hissed and tensed as she felt a needle jab into her thigh, the medicine working to stop the bleeding. Her grip slackened; Aram tightened his hold on her hand. “Nyota!”

Her fingers closed around his again. “Yes, sir.”

-

Aram sat beside Nyota, listening to her steady, machine-regulated breathing as the IV dripped life back into her veins. She was too small here, too still; he could barely recognize the quick, bright girl he’d guided for the last four years in this silent doll. He kept his gaze off her left leg. The white bandages bound from ankle to thigh looked so clean and perfect, and he had seen too much of what was underneath, heard too much in what the doctor left unsaid, to believe their lie. He sighed, resting his forehead on the heels of his hands, and tried to quiet the sudden tightness at the base of his throat.

Nyota shifted. Her eyes flickered open and focused on his face. She offered him a small and haggard but genuine smile. “May I… sleep now, sir?” she asked, her voice thick with exhaustion and muffled by the mask.

Aram was too astonished to even consider hiding it. “You were awake?” he asked. Later, he would kick himself over the stupidity of that question.

Something like amusement pulled at her smile. “You gave me an order,” she murmured, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Aram stared at her in open wonder for a moment before remembering himself. “Yes. Sleep,” he told her, and watched her eyes slide shut. It took only a minute for the monitor beside her bed to register the slower pulse of sleep. He brushed the hair back from her face, hand lingering for just a moment, then stood up and slipped silently out of the room.

–

“And what happened after, Captain?”

Nyota didn’t answer immediately. She took a deep breath and stretched her left leg out, then slowly got to her feet. Oldarva stood up too, in case she fell again, but the captain seemed steady enough now. 

“Ah… thank you, Lumen. This… seems to have helped. It was weeks before I could walk again,” Nyota explained, her voice quieter now, but as calm as if she were relaying the weather. “I started using the brace after growing tired of crutches, but the Miniknog had no use for a crippled soldier. Mentor Aram taught me to be an infiltrator. I was… useful.” 

“What happened to Savas?” Oldarva couldn’t quite bite the question back.

“Him?” Nyota looked over at her, then shook her head. “We met again three years later and he nearly killed me again. He was taken for reconditioning. I do not know what happened to him… nor do I want to. The Miniknog treats its own well, but they are not kind to failures.”

She brushed her hair out of her face and headed for the stairs. “Time to get cleaned up, Eldie. The others will be wanting breakfast soon.”


	71. The Ties that Bind

“Yes, I’m finally able to move freely,” Nyota confirmed, smiling fondly at the concern in the old woman’s voice as she finished her call. “I will be there soon. What? …If you say so, yes. Thanks, Esther.”

“Finishin’ the daily call?” Lumen asked as Nyota switched off her earpiece.

Nyota nodded, smiling, as she retrieved the Baron’s relic from her locker. It hovered above her hand. “I’ve taken too long already,” she said quietly, catching it and putting it away in her pocket. After a moment, she pulled out a worn and battered sword: the blade she’d claimed as she escaped from Earth. Why Esther wanted her to bring it along, she couldn’t fathom, but the old woman hadn’t led her wrong yet. “Time to keep moving on. We still have one more relic to find.”

Lumen hummed, his glow darkening slightly. “The last two nearly killed ya, ma’am. I know, ya’ve come this far, but… Ah, heck. Take me along, will ya? Hadley’s doin’ fine now, and I haven’t seen that gate in a while. Besides, I kinda miss the stars…”

Nyota laughed softly. “You don’t have to ask permission from me, Lumen. I like having you at my side.”

“And yer back, if ya need it,” the Novakid said, only half-joking. He stopped as Nyota opened the door to the teleporter. “Oh, heya Fern-fangs. Waitin’ t’ambush us?”

Namina grinned, showing quite a few of his sharp teeth. “Sssomething like, yess. Captain goess adventuring again. Floran helpsss?”

-

Nyota paused at the foot of the long staircase again and turned her gaze on the hologram of the Cultivator. Whatever thoughts it called up vanished abruptly at the sound of a deep, resonant laugh.

“Jovial. Here you are at last!” the Baron called. “I have waited more than a week for your arrival! You have my shiny bauble, yes?”

“Of course,” Nyota said, touching the small lump in her pocket.

The Baron nodded, then held out his hand. “Impetuous. Give me your sword! …Hm. Perhaps I should be more specific,” he amended at Nyota’s bewildered and wary stare. “Give me your broken broadsword so that I may fix it! Esther has been telling me how—and it poses no challenge for a swordsman like myself!”

Nyota drew the battered old sword and held it out. Light from the hologram caught in the cracks along its blade. “You could repair this?” She studied the damage, then offered it to him, hilt first. “Very well.”

“Enthusiastic. Good! This should not take long,” the Baron exclaimed, seizing the blade. He stopped. “And do you also have equipment needing repaired?”

Namina shook his head, patting the shaft of his favorite hammer. “Floran’s ssstuff is fine. Floran watches and learnsss.”

The Baron laughed. “Imperious. You will be learning much, but not just watching, my ferny friend! Come, you shall be my assistant!”

As Namina walked past to aid the Baron, Nyota could have sworn she heard him mutter, “Alwayss with the fernsss…”

-

Nyota watched with fascination as Namina and the Baron reforged the broken blade together, her interest growing as the Baron showed the Floran how to repair the delicate technology in the hilt. At last, the Baron held it up, gave it a swing, and presented it to her with a sweeping flourish. “Proud. Here it is!” he announced. “Better than new! You’re welcome!”

The Apex took her sword back, testing its weight. It felt far sturdier than before, the hilt fitting better in her grip. Light gleamed along its newly-honed edges. The guard was shaped like her Matter Manipulator, but Namina had added fine wire filigree to it; she couldn’t tell if it was decorative or not until she gave the sword an experimental swing and felt it warm to her touch. The blade hummed blue, pulsing with power.

“This is fine work,” Nyota said as she watched the glow fade. “Even my people could not have come close to making something like this. Thank you, both of you.” It felt, for an instant, like she was on Earth again. It felt like _home._

Namina walked back over to her, grinning broadly. “Floran pleased Captain is pleasssed. Sword sssuits Captain, yess?”

“Mm.” Nyota sheathed the blade. She felt a touch of regret as the warmth faded, but shook it away. “My lord, you are welcome to come with us. It’s time to see where the Glitch relic fits in the door.”

“Entertained. I wouldn’t miss this for all the shiny baubles in the world. Lead on!”

-

Esther beamed at Nyota as she caught sight of her. “Here you are! It’s so good to see you in person again, my dear. And you got the Baron to move his lazy legs, I see!”

“I’m glad to be back, Esther,” Nyota said, smiling at the Baron’s amused grumblings. “It grows more impressive every time I visit.” The lights around and above the gate were far brighter now than they had been when Nyota first visited the Ark, months ago. Instead of shadows against the stars, she could see the shapes of the statues, the twisting coils of the Ruin on the right and the smooth, featureless face of the Cultivator on the left, hand curved over the galaxy hologram as if defending it.

Nyota pulled the fifth relic from her pocket and held it out. It drifted over her palm for several seconds, as if unwilling to go, before she flicked it into the air. It vanished in a burst of orange light, reappearing inside its slot on the gate. “One left,” she said.

“Yes,” Esther agreed, smiling up at the gate. “I’m so proud of you! It hasn’t been easy, but after all you’ve done, I know you’re equal to the challenge we face.”

Nyota was silent for a long moment, studying the lights. She could remember each battle behind them. The Ixodoom, the duel in the Library, Big Ape… “I hope you are right, Esther. But our enemy is much more than just the Ruin. We have tangled with the Occasus three times now over these relics, and I know nothing about them beyond their hatred of non-humans and the name of the woman who leads them.”

Esther nodded slowly. “I’m afraid I can’t help much for the Occasus themselves. As for the woman you fought again…” She picked up an old book, bound in pale blue and emblazoned with the Protectorate’s mark. “[My old journal](http://starbounder.org/Esther%27s_Journal) might give you some answers.”

“Your… journal?” Nyota took the book from her and flipped it open. Esther’s handwriting was small and painstakingly precise, the writing of an archivist. Several entries had been marked with little flags. Nyota read them one by one, the silence growing heavier around her.

_My Asra, my little girl._

Nyota’s hand moved to the flower in her hair. _“It suits you, my student.”_ Aram’s words, when he handed her that first camellia, the day she turned thirteen. _“For my Nyota.”_ The words tied to the stem of the last one, sent a week after her twenty-second birthday. Five days before she left the Miniknog, before she betrayed him.

Lumen watched as his captain reached the end of the book. She still stared at the last page, but she wasn’t reading it. Her eyes were still, seeing something beyond the simple book. At last, she shut the journal and handed it back to Esther. Her hands shook.

“Nyota?” Esther asked. “Are you alright?”

“She’s like me,” Nyota whispered. “Your… your daughter. She broke, turned on you…” She sat down heavily, staring at her hands, and let out a long breath.

“Nyota, I—” Esther began.

Lumen held up a hand. “Hold up there, ma’am.” He walked over to Nyota and crouched in front of her. “What was in that journal, Captain?”

“Esther raised Asra Nox,” Nyota said quietly. “Nox… lost her family to non-human raiders. When she learned of the Ruin, it warped her. It’s… I see where she came from. When I learned of the Protectorate, that there was another way… _Stars._ Master Aram. What must he think of me… I never even…”

“Now you jus’ hold on a high falutin’ minute, Nyota,” Lumen said. “I dunno who this Aram feller is, but yer talkin’ Asra Nox. Woman what killed yer Isobu Luko, mighta had a hand in blowin’ up the Earth, and has tried to kill both of us? I ain’t ‘bout to accept that yer like her. She’s evil, ma’am. …No offense, Esther.”

“I wish I could object,” Esther said, shaking her head. “But Asra… There are so many crimes on her head.”

“You say that as if there are none on mine,” Nyota replied. Her dark eyes were flat, dull. “Torture, murder, mutilation… I was Miniknog. You… know what they have done. My hands are no cleaner than Nox’s.”

“Captain walked out.”

Nyota looked up at Namina, startled. “What?”

“Captain sssaid it. Ssaw Protectorate, made choice,” Namina told her. “Captain doess good since then. Maybe hiccups, but good. Nox goesss other way.”

Nyota blinked. Something clicked inside her. The fog she had felt after reading Esther’s journal vanished. Namina was right: Asra Nox had chosen the Occasus, just as Nyota had chosen the Protectorate, as soon as they had the power to choose. _We are alike,_ she knew, _but I am_ not _her._ “Esther, she is still your daughter,” she said, standing again, “but Asra Nox serves the Ruin. She needs to be stopped, however I can stop her. I need to know where the last relic is.”


	72. Beyond the Ark

Esther nodded slowly, her face calm and settled, as if she had finally found an answer she’d been looking for. “Then I have something to tell you, dear, and something to show you,” she said. “It’s time for me to ask more of you than I’ve ever asked before… I believe you’re ready for this task, do you?”

“I have come this far, Esther.” Nyota touched the Ark, feeling its ancient, smooth surface. It seemed to hum under her fingertips.

“Good. We should gather the others, then. They’ve been instrumental in this. I wouldn’t want to leave them out.”

A few minutes later, nine people stood in front of the Ark. Nuru and the Baron waited beside Esther, the Floran bouncing excitedly on her toes. Tonauac, Koichi, and Lana Blake waited on the far side of the gate; Lana caught Nyota’s eye and nodded. Nyota smiled back.

“Only one artifact missssing now!” Nuru exclaimed happily.

Koichi nodded, flipping his book open. “Yes, and according to our research…” He stopped, frowned, and shut the book again. “Actually, we appear to not have any recorded data on the final artifact.”

“Correct,” Esther said. “The reason being that it has been in our possession all along.” She held up her own old Matter Manipulator; it was slightly smaller than Nyota’s, more curved, black with yellow accents. “This Matter Manipulator that I’m holding is the only one of its kind. It is the original—the Master Manipulator—and it also happens to be the artifact gifted to the humans. Dear, would you like to do the honors?”

_Of course._ Nyota stepped forward and held out her hand. The final relic felt warm and light in her palm; too small for her large hands, but she could feel the power in it. She bit back a curse as she saw how the device shone under the Ark’s light, just like the other five. _How did I miss it? Of course the human relic would… humans_ founded _the Protectorate, with the Manipulators as their symbol._

She swallowed the bitterness in her throat. First Asra Nox, now this. Nox, she could understand. Esther hadn’t wanted to believe her adopted child’s treachery. But hiding something so important as the final relic? _I have no right to be angry,_ Nyota told herself. _After all the secrets I have kept…_ She shook her head. Emotion later. She held the Manipulator up and let go. It hung in the air above her head, then vanished. Yellow light filled the last empty slot; the tiny click that accompanied it seemed to resonate deeper, somehow, than just hearing.

The ground shook. Massive yawning cracks split across the gate, each one rattling the stones beneath their feet. Nyota staggered, dropping to one knee; Lumen grabbed onto Namina to stay upright. Tonauac caught Lana and Koichi before they fell.

“Esssther! What’s happening?” Nuru called. Fear drove her voice into an anxious hiss.

The old woman’s reply was lost as great chunks of the gate fell away, sucked into a swirling void. Light rippled just behind the Ark’s arch, as blue as the holograms above. The air was still again.

“Nine hells…” Lumen whispered, staring into the blue vortex. “That’s it, huh? That’s where the Cultivator locked that Ruin away?”

Namina hissed and bared his teeth. “Floran doesss not like this.”

“Yes, that’s where the Ruin is. If you step through that gate, you can find and destroy it,” Esther said, her voice confident. “If anyone can do it, Nyota can. She brought the relics together, after all. …Nyota?”

Nyota didn’t answer at first. She couldn’t. _Smoke. Reek of blood, the dead sprawled across the auditorium floor, Leda Portia’s eyes as the Ruin coiled around her, tentacles lashing through the walls and—_ She gasped and shook herself. “I’m sorry,” she said. Her hands trembled. _Deep breaths._ “It… it just caught me off guard. The smell of it.”

“We’re with ya, Captain,” Lumen said. Nyota just nodded, covering her nose with her hand to draw another deep breath. Namina studied her, fidgeting with his sword belt, worried but unsure what to do.

“It’s alright if you need to prepare, dear,” Esther offered, her face creased with worry. “The Ark can’t close again.”

The Apex shook her head. “If I turn back now, I don’t know if I could come back, knowing what’s in there,” she whispered. “I… can handle this. I will handle this. I have come this far.” Red coils touched the corners of her vision at every breath and she clenched her fists, forcing the memories back down.

“Here.” Lana Blake stepped forward, pulling off her scarf. “I would only slow you down in there,” she said, “but take this. You can cover your face with it. Should keep the smell out, at least.”

Nyota murmured a quiet thanks as she took the scarf and wound it around her neck, too surprised to object or even register the surprise. It smelled heavy and warm: fur and steel and a summer gale, with the faintest hint of smoke as the thick fabric brushed against her face. It was a good, clean wood smoke, and it pushed away the memory of heavy chemical smog the Ruin had left behind.

“Make sure you return it,” Lana whispered, adjusting the scarf slightly before she stepped back.

Nyota nodded and turned toward the Ark, gesturing for Lumen and Namina to follow her. One foot on the threshold, she paused and looked back. “Commander Blake,” she asked, “if I make it out of this… may I make dinner for you sometime?”

Lana’s small, surprised smile and nod were the last things Nyota saw before she stepped through the Ark.

**

Red drowned her sight as Nyota set foot on the strange world beyond the Ark. Tentacles lashed at the dull orange sky, pulsing scarlet flesh writhed beneath her feet, and yellow eyes stared at her from under every rock. Emerald pools of poison seethed and bubbled out of cracks in the foul surface, releasing clouds of acidic gas that stung Nyota’s throat. She pulled the scarf higher. It helped.

“Damn,” Lumen muttered as he materialized beside her. “I dunno what I expected, but it sure as heck ain’t this. Awful place…”

“Fitting for something that wants to snuff out all life,” Nyota replied, her voice muffled by the cloth. “Namina?”

“Floran isss here.” Namina looked around and snarled. “Floran doess not like here.”

Nyota nodded in agreement and switched on her earpiece. Static. “SAIL? SAIL, are you there? I need to know what we’re up against.”

The static shifted a little. SAIL’s voice crackled through. “Signal interfering… unstable… Connection is a bit distorted,” the AI said. “Readings indicate that while this structure would appear to be a planet, it is in fact one giant living organism.”

“Giant living… This whole planet…” Cold shot down Nyota’s spine, curling in her gut. “We’re standing on the Ruin itself?” _It’s massive… How… how can I kill a_ planet _?_

“That would appear to be the case. Exploring further may produce better results. Either the Ark or the Ruin itself appears to be distorting my ability to read the environment around you,” SAIL reported.

“Understood…” Nyota looked over at Lumen and Namina. “Mind your step,” she said, “and keep your weapons drawn.”

As soon as they set foot outside of the shallow overhang, monsters swarmed them. Lumen shouted in alarm as a flying monster exploded next to his head. The shock almost knocked him into the poison pool below.

“Lightss-friend!” Namina grabbed his arm, hauling him to safety as some kind of floating jellyfish monster flung searing light at the Novakid. A foul reek filled the air as it scorched the flesh where Lumen had been standing a moment before. The Floran snarled as a shelled creature lunged for his leg and smashed his hammer down onto it. It burst, sending shell shards whizzing past Namina’s feet.

“Climb!” Nyota shouted, shooting the jellyfish before it could attack again. She swung wildly as a swarm of winged eyes surged around her like gnats, their caustic tears searing her skin. “We need to get away from the pools!”

The cloud broke for a moment and she scrambled clear, following Lumen and Namina as the Floran half-carried the dazed medic up the cliff. It was horribly soft, squelching and shifting as she dug her hands in to keep from falling. The entire mound gave way as she reached the top; Nyota barely managed to leap to safety as the slime went crashing down in a stinking wave, burying several of the monsters below.

“Are you two alright?” she asked as soon as she caught her breath, shaking ooze off her hands. Her fingers had gone numb where it touched her.

“Floran iss unhurt,” Namina reported. He kept a wary eye on the skies, grip locked tight on his hammer. “Lightss-friend?”

“That blastin’ varmint left a mark, but I’ll mend,” Lumen muttered, standing up. He swayed and pressed a hand to his brand with a low hum. There was a long crack marring the side of his head, tapering down toward his neck. A worried hiss rattled in the back of Namina’s throat.

Nyota’s jaw tightened as she inspected the damage. “That needs seen to,” she said softly, “but my hands are in no shape for it right now.”

Namina stepped forward, stowing his hammer. “Floran helpsss. Tell Floran how.”

“It ain’t as bad as it looks,” Lumen insisted, though he sat down without complaint. “Jus’ needs a bit of nanowrap t’keep it stable.”

Nyota kept watch as Namina took care of Lumen’s injury. Nothing dangerous bothered them, much to her relief; feeling was returning to her fingers, but slowly. She could barely keep her grip on her sword. They were a bit better by the time Namina finished, steady enough for her to shoot another bomber out of the air.

“We should keep moving,” she said quietly. “We’re easy targets out here. They are getting bolder.”


	73. Poison

It didn’t take long for the swarms to find them again.

Nyota snarled as she swatted a gel-monster out of the air. Behind her, she could hear Namina smashing another one of the tentacle ghosts and Lumen crackling with frustration as he tried to fend off a cluster of clam beasts. As soon as the last gel thing splattered and dissolved, Nyota rounded on the clams, shattering them with her sword.

“Thank ya kindly, Captain,” Lumen said. His hands were strangely unsteady as he reloaded his revolver, almost dropping the bullets. “Fern-fangs, ya doin’ alright?”

“Floran is disssgusted,” Namina growled, flicking gunk off his armor. He hissed something under his breath and knocked monster slime off his hammer, shifting restlessly from foot to foot.

Nyota cleaned her own weapons in silence. Her eyes darted back and forth, studying the land around them as it pulsed and shuddered, as if moved by a massive beating heart. _Crumbling stone, the sun like a massive dying eye—_ She drew in a deep breath, pulling the scarf up again, and felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She offered Lumen a brittle smile as Lana’s scent chased some of the fear away.

Her thanks died in her throat as the ground shattered. Seething red flesh shot through the split obsidian. Nyota was knocked tumbling over the stone, hands scrabbling for purchase. She scrambled to her feet, sword in hand and blood dripping from a fresh cut on her cheek, and felt her face go white. Several yards away, Lumen’s brand glowed with energy as he pushed rubble off himself, his shirt scorched by plasma from thin cracks across his body. He barely got clear in time before the massive tentacle pounded down where he’d been moments before.

“What the blue blazes is that thing?” he shouted, voice warped with fear.

“The Ruin’s arm—it found us! Run!”

Namina ducked as the tentacle lashed out toward him, its grasping coils missing his head by mere inches. Three shots rang out; one of them ripped a long tear across the tentacle, making it writhe back before it could grab the Floran. Lumen crackled and took aim again, trying to buy time as he backed away. The fourth shot went wide and the tentacle arced toward him, so fast the air hissed. Nyota ran forward, lead settling in her heart as she realized she’d be too late—

A clawed hand shoved Lumen down and the tentacle cracked against tough Floran hide. Namina hit the ground once, skidding over flesh and stone. Nyota heard Lumen shout his name as he struck the toxic pool, but there was no time to think. The tentacle was already swinging back down. She stepped between it and Lumen, her blade humming with blue light; it sheared right through the scarlet mass.

Nyota didn’t stay to watch as the tentacle thrashed back in agony and crumbled into slime. She turned and ran to the edge of the poisonous pool. Namina floundered in the shallow pool, his head just above the surface as he spat and coughed, clawing at the floor but too weak to pull himself out. Nyota jammed her blade into the soft shore and waded out to him. The green liquid sloshed up to her knees; she could feel it trickling in past her boots but she didn’t care. Personal safety be damned. Namina went under just as she reached him. The poison stung like shards of ice as her hands plunged into it, caught hold of the Floran, and hauled him clear.

Lumen ran over as Nyota dragged Namina ashore. “Captain! Is Namina…?”

“Alive, I think,” Nyota panted. She all but collapsed as soon as they were out of the poison. It shouldn’t have affected her, not this soon… Fatigue hung in her joints like stone.

Namina groaned, his head digging into her thigh as he shifted. Nyota brushed his foliage out of his face; his eyes were open, but unfocused, and acid-green droplets beaded like sweat along his brow. Poison. “He’s burning up,” Nyota whispered. Namina’s skin was hot and dry under her hand, like grass scorched by drought and a summer sun. “Can you help him, Lumen?”

Lumen gently lifted Namina’s head out of Nyota’s lap. He hissed softly, going dim with worry. “It ain’t good, Captain… Poison like this works fast on Floran. Need water t’flush it out, and I ain’t got enough…”

Nyota nodded, closing her eyes. “I see. SAIL. Get them out of here.”

“What? What are you thinkin’?” Lumen flared brighter as Namina vanished, teleported back to the Ark.

The captain looked up, a thin, tired smile on her face. “You too, Lumen. That crack’s affecting you badly, isn’t it? I’ve never seen you miss before. Go help Namina.”

Lumen hummed, low and soft. “Ya can’t face this thing alone, Nyota. Yer poisoned too. Come back. Let me heal ya.”

Nyota shook her head. “I can’t retreat now,” she whispered. “You know that. I will be fine, Lumen. It was only a little, and toxins are slow to affect the Apex. Go.”

The Novakid bowed his head. “As ya wish, ma’am.” He rummaged in a pocket and pulled out three red stimpacks. “Ya might want these. I’ll catch up as soon as I can.”

Nyota emptied the poison from her boots and stood up as Lumen vanished. An idea was starting to form in the back of her mind. She walked over to the hole the tentacle had emerged from, keeping her steps slow and light. She didn’t want to find out the hard way if it could feel her presence. The shaft was deep, too deep for even the harsh light around her to illuminate the bottom. _I wonder how far down it goes._

Her earpiece chimed once, then clicked. Someone was shifting to a private channel. “Miss Nyota.” SAIL’s voice. “The signal between this dimension and the Ruin’s prison is weak. If you descend below the surface, I will not be able to teleport you out if you run into danger. Do you still wish to proceed?”

“Scan the surface again, SAIL. I am already in danger. But no matter how big something is,” she muttered, pulling the Matter Manipulator from her belt, “the surest way to kill it is through its heart.”

-

There were monsters below the surface of the Ruin. Nyota’s pistol was enough to pick off the gnats that spotted her as she dropped through the hole her Manipulator bored. Countless eyes stared at her from all sides now and she gripped the scarf tight in her free hand, pressing it to her face as she drew in deep, slow breaths. It was a little easier now. A tremor shot through her as she left the last patch of light, but her path led deeper. She let her feet carry her forward. The fear was gone. She just felt numb.

She didn’t know how long she walked. One minute? Ten? A hundred? There was no way of measuring time beyond her own heartbeat. The claustrophobic fleshy walls began to open gradually as she went deeper. Vast chasms yawned beside her, their walls of red flesh and turquoise slime ribbed with veins of obsidian and chalky bone. Nyota was glad her eyes were not made for the dark; she could see movement under the long tendrils of connective tissue and didn’t want to see it any clearer. A low throbbing note carried under the buzz and chatter of the monsters around her, rising and falling.

Her earpiece hummed with static and she flinched.

“Captain?” It was Lumen’s voice, anxious but steady. “SAIL said ya headed deeper. How are ya gettin’ on down there?”

Nyota shot down another tentacle ghost before answering. “I’m managing. How is Namina?”

Lumen’s crackling sigh came through as more static. “He’ll live. He ain’t gonna like it, but he’ll live. Took almost all the anti-toxins I had, so I’d appreciate it if ya don’t go fallin’ in any poison pools, ma’am.”

Nyota almost smiled. She opened her mouth to say _I didn’t plan on it,_ but SAIL cut in.

“Readings show that there is a vast chasm beneath you that extends fathoms deep,” it reported. “I advise you to try and avoid falling to your death.”

The captain nodded. “Understood.” She stopped and shone her light over the edge of the path; it was as if the Ruin itself swallowed the weak beam. “…Lumen, I do not think you could catch up to me now,” she said quietly.

“I’ll wait for ya at the Ark then, ma’am,” Lumen replied. “Not much more I can do for Fern-fangs right now… It’s up to him, mostly. Eldie’s lookin’ after him. I’m hopin’ ya won’t need it, but I’d like t’be there to help when ya get back.”

“Thank you.” Nyota switched the microphone off and crept over to the edge. The path broke off abruptly; there would be no climbing down this time. Her grappling hook wouldn’t last long enough, either. _It might give me a start,_ she thought, jabbing it into a soft wall.

The descent began dark and silent. It did not stay that way. As the grapple’s cord began to reach its limit, Nyota caught a low, deep sound, like a giant cable vibrating. Red light flashed along a jagged path, almost too fast for her to see it, and then a second light shot along after the first, followed by another thrumming sound. _Electricity._

She braced herself, then hit the release on her grapple. The sudden drop felt like it almost wrenched her stomach out. She kicked at the air, fighting the nausea down as the old jump tech activated and stopped her fall for an instant. The ground was visible now, a pulsing pinkish mass. The air tasted foul.

Two more mid-air stops hit the tech’s limit, but she was close enough now. Nyota hit the ground and rolled; it was soft, horribly so, like a giant brain… Electricity hummed through the walls again, illuminating the deep wrinkles, and Nyota’s face went grey. She barely managed to tug Lana’s scarf out of the way before bile flooded her mouth and she doubled over, retching.

She coughed and spat as the nausea faded, drawing in a deep lungful of the rancid air. It almost made her vomit again and she pulled the red scarf over her face, breathing through the scent of fur and summer storms until the feeling faded.

“I’ve come this far,” she whispered, getting slowly to her feet. “I’ve come this far. Only a little farther.” There was another incline up ahead, one last descent into the Ruin’s heart.


	74. Asra Nox

Esther adjusted her glasses, wishing fervently that the Ark would focus better as she watched the shadowy figure move through the depths of the Ruin. The whirling blue vortex had vanished moments after Nyota did, nearly three hours ago. Images flickered under the arch now, a garish orange sky, vaguely humanoid shapes fighting and running. Two of the shapes had vanished; it was just Nyota now. _If I was just twenty years younger,_ the old woman thought unhappily, leaning in for a better look.

The others crowded around Esther, watching. Nuru cheered every time Nyota took down a monster, Koichi muttering nervously and fiddling with his book. Tonauac shifted to get a better look without blocking anyone else’s view, and the Baron occasionally joined Nuru in voicing his approval. Lana Blake had remained mostly silent, her face grim. She’d broken her silence only twice: when the giant tentacle appeared and she cursed, hand jumping to her gun, and now, when Nyota reached the Ruin’s brain. Esther caught a strange low sound from the Apex, and saw her reach toward the Ark before catching herself.

“We can’t reach her, dear,” Esther whispered.

“I know. I…” Lana broke off and lowered her hand. Her knuckles were white with tension. Esther reached out and put a hand on her arm. Lana didn’t pull away, but she didn’t relax either, just kept her eyes fixed on the Ark.

-

Even the dull gleam of electric currents vanished as Nyota half climbed, half slid down the final slope. The air was impossibly thick; she couldn’t smell anything anymore. It was almost too dense to breathe. She felt, rather than saw, the walls change. The ground grew hard under her feet. There was light ahead. “Esther, can you see this?” she whispered.

Esther’s voice sounded strangely muffled, almost distorted. “You’ve reached the Ruin’s heart. You must destroy it.”

Nyota ducked through the last chitinous arch and froze. “It isn’t just the Ruin,” she whispered. She could see an all-too-familiar figure standing near the far end of the chamber. All her instincts said _shoot now,_ but Nyota waited in silence for Esther’s answer.

The old woman was silent for a long moment. “Do what you must,” she said at last. Nyota could hear the weight of sadness in her voice.

“Asra Nox!” Nyota called, stepping forward.

Asra actually flinched. It was fast, barely noticeable, but Nyota saw the twitch before she looked up. “Hhnn… You’re ridiculously stubborn, aren’t you?” she growled. “As bad as your Novakid friend was.”

Nyota swallowed hard, burying the fury that surged up at Asra’s words. _That can wait. This is for Esther._ “I’ll give you one chance to forget this and go home, Nox,” she said, slow and calm. “Esther told me everything.”

Hate seared through Asra’s expression, but to Nyota’s astonishment, that was all she felt. Where was the power she had felt from this woman when they met below the Library, so many weeks ago? Where was the skill? “Isn’t that nice of her,” Asra said, tightening her grip on the hilt of her sword. She must have made a replacement after their duel in the Library. “The sad history of _her little girl._ I should have killed her too.”

“But you didn’t. We are not all that different, are we?” Nyota asked. She kept her gaze steady as Asra glared at her. “We betrayed the ones who raised us. We fight because it’s all we know, because our causes are worth fighting for. I’m willing to die for mine. You’re willing to kill for yours.”

“Then hurry up and let me kill you,” Asra snarled.

Nyota shook her head, almost laughing, her hand moving to the scarf around her neck. “Did I say I _planned_ to die? No, not today. There are too many people waiting for me.”

The cultist rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Don’t tell me you’ve actually bought into Esther’s nonsense about strength in unity,” she said.

“I’m not that naïve. Emotion cannot make up for a vast difference in strength.” The Apex drew her sword. The blade shone with blue light as she smiled. “Asra, you _can’t_ kill me. I’m better than you.”

Asra Nox’s face went as white as the bonelike spars that lined the room. “Esther’s really turned your head,” she hissed. “I think I’ll cut it off.”

Nyota smile turned grim. “Have it your way.”

-

Nyota sidestepped as Asra lunged toward her. The Occasus leader still moved impossibly fast, but she could follow the path now. She’d seen Asra fight before, and that was enough. When her foe tried it again, Nyota jumped over her, landing a kick between Asra’s shoulder blades. The same barrier from before blocked her from doing any harm, but she hit with enough force this time to send Asra sprawling.

Asra tumbled several yards before catching herself and getting to her feet. Her body glowed violet and condensed. Distortion sphere again. Nyota had landed badly, her foot aching from the recoil; she grunted with pain as the ball glanced off her shoulder, making her left arm go numb. She sprang backward as it spun toward her again. It missed her leg by inches, skimming off the ground and ricocheting back for one more strike. The Apex ducked. Asra passed so close that the wind clipped a few strands out of her hair.

Nyota whirled to face her and saw a streak of violet in front of her eyes. _The flower._ She wasn’t sure why she caught it instead of charging after Asra immediately, but white-hot fury surged through her chest as her fingers closed around the stem. Her last piece of home.

When Asra reformed, Nyota was ready for her. The cultist barely had time to parry the first blow; the impact sent her reeling back. The Protectorate broadsword hummed blue as Nyota switched from backhand to thrust. Asra screamed as it bit deep, just above her hip. She staggered back, raised her own sword to retaliate, and Nyota’s heel crashed into her chest. Asra’s armor cracked. She hit the far wall and slid down, gasping. Nyota caught an instant of abject terror in her eyes before Asra vanished and the broadsword sank deep into the wall.

The blink didn’t carry her far. Asra reappeared several yards behind Nyota and dropped to one knee, her hand pressed tight over the wound in her side. “You don’t understand, do you?” she panted. “You still haven’t won! The Ruin will—”

The cultist broke off with a sharp gasp as Nyota jammed her sword into the fleshy floor, drew her dagger, and flung it. She wasn’t as accurate with her right hand, but it didn’t matter. Asra’s eyes went wide and she swatted the dagger away with her sword.

“Struggle all you want,” Asra hissed. “The Ruin will still awaken, and soon cleanse this universe of ALL BUT HUMANS!” Before Nyota could raise her sword, she vanished in a burst of light.

 _Must have a warp nearby,_ Nyota realized, wrenching her dagger out of a mound of teal slime. _But she won’t get far with that wound._ Disappointment stung deep and bitter in the back of her throat, but she switched on her earpiece anyway. “She got away, Esther.”

“I know… It’s… it’s alright dear,” the old woman said quietly.

Before Nyota could reply, a chill ran down her spine. She turned around and felt her breath turn to ice in her lungs. A great yellow eye slid open on the lump of flesh that hung suspended above her. It blinked once, then looked down at her. The Ruin was awake.


	75. The Ruin

Nyota drew her pistol and fired three shots right into the Ruin's slit-like pupil. The surface of the eye shuddered almost imperceptibly from the bullets and it blinked once before focusing on her again. Slimy pustules began to bubble beside her, disgorging a swarm of tentacle gnats. The Apex dove aside as they shot toward her face, her dagger tearing through one that passed too slowly.

As Nyota got to her feet, the vast eye locked on her again, red light rising in bubbles around her. The fur along her shoulders bristled and her feet were running before she could even register why. A moment later, the Ruin’s pupil dilated. Pain sheared up her right leg and she hit the ground, rolling aside as a massive beam of light engulfed the floor where she’d been.

“Nyota! Nyota, are you alright?” Esther’s voice cracked with fear.

“I’m… I will be,” Nyota said, pulling one of Lumen’s stimpacks from her pocket and sticking it in her right thigh. The medication numbed the pain; even though it looked like light, the laser had left dozens of thin lacerations along her leg instead of burns, tearing skin like Big Ape’s hard-light bullets.

She made the mistake of looking up again as she discarded the empty stimpack. The Ruin’s eye was cold. It seethed with hatred, but not for her. For everything. She wasn’t afraid. This was something beyond fear.

“Stay focused, Captain Saimiri.”

Nyota relaxed slightly and stood up. “Commander Blake?”

“Who else?” Lana said, and Nyota could almost hear the dry smile in her voice. “Focus. You can handle this.”

“Of course.” Nyota echoed the smile, shaking her hair out of her face. “Don’t worry about me. I still owe you dinner.”

**

Nyota shot down a tentacle creature as it burst out of the spawning sacks. She emptied the rest of the clip into the Ruin’s eye, then leapt back as another monster shot toward her face. _No good,_ she realized as her dagger bit into the monster. The pistol hurt it, but barely. She’d run out of ammunition long before piercing anything.

The Ruin’s pupil dilated as Nyota took a running leap for it, activating her jump tech and using the momentum to drive her sword deep into the red tissue behind its eye. It shook and she wrenched the glowing blade free, rolling to break her fall.

As soon as she landed, the Ruin shuddered, then opened its eye wider. Its pupil vanished. In its place was a dark vortex. The vortex split as Nyota stood up, revealing… _An open sky?_ She caught a glimpse of tall mushroom trees rising out of vibrant grass before dark balls of energy split off from the whirling void. She jumped out of the way as one drifted toward her—they were too slow to be an attack, and somehow that worried her more.

The darkness condensed and Nyota’s eyes widened in surprise as a mushroom-backed creature formed. Sporgus. _How had it…?_ She flinched back as it spat spores at her, one arm up to protect her face. The spores couldn’t get through her clothes, but they burned like acid where they touched the bare skin of her hands. She reloaded her pistol and killed it quickly before it could attack again.

The monsters were just a distraction. She needed to destroy that eye. Nyota ignored the second sporgus and jumped for the Ruin again. Her blade sank into the thick outer wall of the Ruin’s heart a second time and the entire room trembled. Nyota lost her grip. Her back hit the floor, knocking the wind out of her. Her sword tumbled free and sank blade-first into the ground, just a foot from her head, as she lay there gasping.

“Nyota! Get up!” 

 _Lumen?_ She sucked in a shallow breath and rolled aside as the ground itself began to bubble. Slime dripped from her hair and ran down her back. Numbness spread over her skin. As she got to her feet again, a massive tentacle erupted from the ground, arcing over and ripping back through the floor. The surviving sporgus didn’t move out of the way in time. Nyota swallowed hard as her throat constricted. If she’d been too slow…

“Thank you,” she muttered before muting the microphone. They didn’t need to hear this.

-

Lumen watched in fretful silence as his captain evaded another scything ray of light from the Ruin’s eye. She almost cut that one too close… The Ruin didn’t give her time to catch her breath, though, creating another portal and pulling monsters through.

“She will succeed,” Lana Blake muttered softly beside him as she caught a low, worried hum. “Your captain is one of the most resilient individuals I have ever met.” Her right hand rested on her collarbone, where her scarf usually sat. It had not moved since Lumen arrived.

“That she is,” Lumen agreed, though his hands did not unclench. _Hang in there, partner._

-

Her first sign that something was wrong hit as Nyota finished off a gleap and turned her gun on the great eye again. She heard the slime shifting behind her and tried to step aside. Ice shot up her right leg. It went stiff under her, an instant before the tentacle clipped her back and sent her reeling. Heat flashed along her shin as she staggered and caught her balance, followed by the biting chill again. Nothing would bend below her knee. _Paralysis. Poison. From the lake—when the light cut me—_

Slime shook beneath her and tentacles rose out of the muck on all sides, ploughing down in great waves of turquoise and scarlet. Nyota grabbed one of the stiff tendons and hauled herself clear just in time. She clung to it, trying to rub life back into her useless right leg. The stiffness crept higher.

As the tentacles receded and the eye scoured the room for her, Nyota drew her pistol again and emptied another clip into it. Long scratches marred its pulsating surface now; it wept caustic tears and dripped yellow slime from the deep gashes, melting holes in the floor.

 _Not that I’m much better,_ Nyota thought grimly, ducking as more of the Ruin’s spawn buzzed past her head. She could barely move her right leg at all now. Monsters had left their shallow, bloody marks across her body; the spore burns throbbed. Numbness alternated with pain down her back. She drew her sword again, gauging the distance. No way she could jump that far, not with the poison in her, but it was the only option she had with just six bullets remaining. _One more shot. That’s all I’ve got left._


	76. Last Words

Acidic tears scorched Nyota’s hand as she tried to catch one of the tentacles below the Ruin’s eye. She hit the ground, cursing through clenched teeth, and shot the bomber spawn before it could get close enough to hurt her. Five bullets.

Red light shone around her in retaliation and she barely limped out of the way in time to avoid the ray. Climbing would not work, then, she realized as she injected the second stimpack and bit her lip against the pain as it started to repair her hands and forced a little life back into her right leg. Even the numbing medicine wasn’t perfect for this kind of damage. But how else would she reach…

She caught an all-too-familiar rumbling sound and tossed the empty stimpack away. “Stars, this is a stupid idea…” she muttered, and took off toward the breaking point.

Seething scarlet shot out of the furrowed ground right as Nyota reached it. She leaned aside, tried to relax, and dug her sword into it. Pain shot through both shoulders as she hauled herself up onto the Ruin’s tentacle. Not dislocated, but not far off. She gritted her teeth .

The great yellow eye narrowed as it saw her catch her balance and climb to her feet. Nyota stared back, ignoring the cold hatred, and gauged the distance. _A little closer…_ She kicked off as the tentacle’s arc reached its peak, saw something that was almost confusion in the ancient spite-filled glare, and used her jump tech to push herself higher. Blinding blue energy hummed along the length of her sword and Nyota plunged it deep into the Ruin’s eye.

Her weight dragged her down, the charged sword hissing as caustic tears and fluid evaporated around it. The steady pounding that had filled her ears since she entered the caves sped up, then stopped. The Ruin’s eye burned white.

Nyota landed badly, her legs crumpling beneath her and sword almost slipping from her grip, but no retaliation came. The Ruin shuddered. Light spilled from the gaping gash. The Apex pushed herself painfully to her feet and switched her microphone back on. “Esther, Lumen, do you see this? What’s happening?”

“You did it!” Esther exclaimed. She gasped as a muffled crash made it through the microphone. “But this… Something’s wrong. The Ruin… its structure is unstable!”

 _No…_ Nyota went still. _Even after all this…?_ She scrambled aside as a long tear ruptured in the floor, spraying slime and venom. Slivers of obsidian shattered against her sword as she flicked it up to protect her face.

“It’s going to explode! Get out!” Koichi called.

_How?_

Nyota heard Nuru snarling back, “Don’t tell her what to do, fishface! She’s dealt with situations like this before!”

She dimly recognized Lumen’s voice, the Baron’s. None of their words got through the dull certainty, the stillness in her ears as the panic faded. Even if her legs were uninjured, if the Ruin weren’t crumbling around her, pits yawning in the floor and chunks of flesh and bone crashing down…

Nyota switched the speaker off, turning her microphone to SAIL’s private channel again. “SAIL,” she said, her voice soft and calm, “record final message.”

She had barely finished speaking when another explosion ripped through the wall of the Ruin’s heart. She didn’t even have time to turn off the microphone. Bone tore at her thigh as she twisted aside, nicked her arm—Nyota stopped, cold rushing through her. She did not look down at the spar that pierced her chest. She did not have time to fall. The last thing she saw was light searing through the ground as the Ruin finally shattered.

**

“Apex life signal lost.”

The images had vanished from the Ark, leaving nothing but the swirling blue void, but no one moved. Tonauac’s book had fallen from his grasp. He knelt beside it, making no effort to pick it up. Nuru stared at the gate, her wide eyes disbelieving. The Baron’s visible eye went dark and he turned away. Koichi clutched his journal to his chest, as if it could ward off the final scenes they all had watched. Lana Blake’s hand fell back to her side as she sank to one knee, head bowed and eyes closed. Lumen couldn’t move. He stood still, watching the gate.

“…this can’t be…” Esther whispered, breaking the silence.

The speaker clipped to Lumen’s collar clicked once. “I have a recording from Miss Nyota Saimiri,” SAIL said. “Shall I play it?”

Esther, Koichi, and Nuru looked over at him. The Novakid slowly raised his hand and pulled the speaker free, turning the volume up. “Go ahead,” he murmured. He hissed softly at the sound of Nyota’s voice, the recording crackling slightly as SAIL got the frequencies right.

“…Can you hear me?”

A pause. Something cracked in the background. “Looks like I can’t make it to dinner after all, Commander Blake. …Lana.” Lana looked up, something deeper than pain in her green eyes as the recording continued. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t… I wanted to say your name, at least once. I would have… liked to get to know you better.”

There was another pause, and the sound of static as she sighed. “I don’t have enough time. I won’t get out of this. Esther… Everyone, my crew, you have—you gave me purpose.” The sound of something crashing down all too close interrupted her. When they could make out her words again, her voice was much softer. “Tell Tarvei… No. Never mind.Lumen, you are the First Mate. You’re in charge now. Look after them.”

“I’m sorry.” They heard her voice break. “I did not… want to say goodbye.”

There was another sound of something being rent apart, clattering as objects rained down around her. They heard Nyota’s short gasp, then a quiet, final sigh. The recording dissolved into static.

Lumen stood in silence for a long moment. Then he sat down, almost folding as if he just didn’t have the strength to stand anymore. “I wish I had a hat I could take off right now,” he muttered. “After livin’ to a hundred, ya’d think I’d get used to… t’ _losin_ ’ folks… I can’t do whatcha need me t’do.” He put his head in his hands, shoulders shaking, his voice little more than a cracked, broken sigh. “Aw, _hell_ , Nyota… Y’promised ya’d come _home.”_

-

He almost broke again when he stepped out of the teleporter to Sonny’s cheerful “Welcome back!”

The green Novakid’s radiance dimmed slightly in the face of Lumen’s silence and dull glow. Arrowmail made a soft worried noise and put a hand on her shoulder. Arjun joined them a few seconds later. Lumen didn’t say anything yet. He just gestured for them to follow him.

Oldarva looked up as she heard them enter. “You’re home.”

“I am,” Lumen agreed. Hadley sat up a little straighter in her bed, and Namina turned to look at him with a low, confused hiss. The Floran was still only half-awake, but he roused himself a little more, his blue eyes bright and uncertain. Something was wrong. No one spoke.

It was Oldarva who finally asked, “Where is Nyota?”

-

Acting Captain’s log, Day 1

_Well, the crew took the news about as well as I’d expected… Eldie’s just gone quiet. Dunno ‘bout Arrowmail, he’s been organizin’ the library ever since. I oughta check on him when I finish this. Arjun, well, he’s a stoic one. Guess he’s used to loss. Had to turn off the teleporter to keep Namina from chargin’ right back to the Ark to find ya. He can barely move and he still…_

[long pause]

 _Hadley and Sonny refuse to believe yer gone. I can’t say I blame them. Ya’ve always come back before. I… I ain’t sure I believe it myself, t’be honest._ [low static] _…I’d best… go find Arrowmail, or somethin’… Actin’ Captain Lumen signin’ off._


	77. Coping

Acting Captain’s log, Day 2

_Couldn’t find Eldie this mornin’. Gave me a right good scare… Turns out she was in the trainin’ room, runnin’ through the routines ya taught her. …Guess we all have our ways of dealin’ with things. Don’t know what I’d do without her. She ain’t got a clue with cookin’, but we got everyone fed somehow, between her, me, and Arjun. Namina’s mostly sleepin’ off the poison, but he’s doin’ a little better at least. Hadley didn’t want much to eat. Reminds me of Sonny, an’ that ain’t a good thing right now. Arrowmail turned up for breakfast and got the lil’ glowbug to eat somethin’, so at least that’s one of ‘em I don’t have to worry about._

[quiet, discordant hum]

_Can’t bring myself to go through yer things yet. Know I should, but it’s like when… Nah. This ain’t the time or place for ramblin’. Guess I’ll try again tomorrow. Actin’ Captain Lumen signin’ off._

-

The camp was buzzing with gossip and excitement again, and this time Tarvei was right in the thick of it. Aly had made him her aide. “To keep you out of trouble,” she’d said, when Geo brought him back from the Glitch keep.

_To keep an eye on me, more like,_ he thought somewhat grumpily as he followed her through the crowd, but his irritation at being restrained couldn’t hold up again under the enthusiasm around him. Lana Blake was back. He could see her surrounded as ever by curious Apex, and trying to fend off their questions with increasing impatience if her expression was any indicator.

Something was wrong, though. As Tarvei got closer, he realized Blake looked more tired than he had ever seen her. Her green eyes were dull, her shoulders no longer in the stiff, confident posture Vei was used to seeing.

“Clear off, clear off,” Aly called, shooing the others away. “Good to have you back, Commander. How’s that arm healing?”

“I will be seeing Mera to remove the cast later,” Blake said. Even her voice sounded worn, though she gave Aly a polite nod of greeting. “Do you have somewhere we can talk in private? We have rested long enough. It’s time we start planning our next assault.”

Aly stopped for an instant; Tarvei almost walked into her. “It’s time, then?” she asked, taken aback. “You have finished dealing with… with that thing?”

Blake nodded. “Yes. I can focus on our cause again. Vaska gave me her reports already. The Miniknog have started regrouping while I was away. We need to break them down, cripple their command, so they can’t strike back.”

Silence stretched between them as Aly led the way to a quieter place for conversation. After a little more than a minute, she asked quietly, “Where is your scarf, Lana?”

Tarvei saw Blake’s hand move to her collarbone. He saw a split second crack in her professional, distant expression and felt his breath catch in his throat, but he couldn’t place why.

“It is… in good hands,” Blake said, moving her hand slowly back to her side. The moment vanished. She was the unshakable commander again, calmly following the oldest member of her inner circle.

Tarvei was allowed to stay and watch as the two women stood over a broad table in the quiet, dimly lit bunker, their hands flashing through the light from the lone bulb as they nudged tokens around and traded news and strategies. Vei watched in silent admiration, well aware of the great privilege he’d been given, and the trust. He’d heard rumors of Blake’s skill as a tactician, but only her inner circle knew what it looked like behind the scenes.

Blake was utterly focused. She practically threw herself into the plans, picking apart each scenario with merciless, practiced ease. Vei could see the pride in Aly’s shoulders and jaw as Lana worked, tearing into every flaw and twist, but he also saw the worry in the older woman’s restless, gnarled hands. _This isn’t how it’s supposed to go,_ he realized. There was an almost obsessive fervor in Blake’s voice. Manic.

And then they finished. The energy vanished, leaving the commander looking even more worn than she had when Tarvei first spotted her nearly three hours before. Blake’s face was unlined by age, her hair still rich chestnut brown, but Tarvei was hard pressed in that moment to guess who was older between her and wrinkled, silver Aly.

“I should be going,” Blake said, her voice hoarse from talking for so long. “I still need to speak with Mera about removing this cast.”

“At least get some water with me first,” Aly offered, resting a gentle hand on Blake’s shoulder. “You sound terrible. Mera will have my hide if I send you to her rasping like one of Arkadis’s shadows.”

“Water would be nice,” Blake conceded. She followed Aly back to the entrance. The older woman climbed the ladder first so she’d be ready to help Blake up. The commander’s injured arm had already given her a hard time on the way down.

Vei was not expecting Blake to turn back to him, good hand on the rung and one foot halfway off the floor. “She said your name,” the commander said, and something about her expression told him exactly who _she_ was. “I do not know why.”

A memory stirred as Tarvei followed the two women toward the camp canteen, a memory of his parents. He saw Blake’s hand rise unconsciously to where her scarf had once sat and realized it quite suddenly. She was grieving.

“Ma’am,” he said to Aly after the commander left, “can you manage without me tomorrow? There’s somewhere I need to go.” He couldn’t shake the cold dread that settled in his gut. Time to find answers again.

**

Acting Captain’s log, Day 3

_Ol’ Esther said that big gate went dark today. Guess that means there ain’t anythin’ left for it to show. We’re all doin’ what we can. I think it’s startin’ to sink in for everyone._

_We’re gettin’ by, though. Arjun’s gettin’ SAIL to teach him how to fly this thing, and Eldie found one of yer cookbooks in the library. Arrowmail even got Sonny to dance for us, playin’ his fiddle for her. Did somethin’ good for morale, I think. Made us happy again for a little while. Fern-fangs has been sleepin’ a lot, but he needs rest, so that’s alright._

_I’m startin’ to worry ‘bout Hadley. She’s up an’ about at last, but she’s been real quiet since… since I got back. Sonny’s tried to cheer her up, but I dunno what we’re gonna do if she don’t start eatin’ again. She’s still mendin’, an—eh? What’s up, Arrowmail?  A guest? Sure, let’s have a look at him. SAIL, could ya save what I’ve got? I’ll finish it later._

Lumen slid the cockpit door open as Arrowmail stepped aside. Sonny waved at him from her seat on the table before resuming her conversation with Hadley. Lumen nodded briefly at them as he crossed the room to check the teleporter screen.

There was a young male Apex standing in the little room, shifting from foot to foot. He didn’t look armed or threatening, just nervous. Lumen tapped the unlock code into the control panel on the door and stepped back as it slid open. He looked up, caught a better look at the Apex’s face, and froze. He knew those amber eyes.

“Oh, hey!” Sonny called, glowing brighter. “You’re that young fella from the Keep! Geo’s friend, right? Glad to see you made it out alright. How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been doing alright,” the Apex said, smiling a bit. “I don’t think we were introduced last time? I mean, it was tricky enough with the cultist around and all… I’m Vei. I’m with the Resistance, from the camp in Muhlifain Morass.”

“Pleasure to meet ya, Vei,” Lumen said, nodding politely. “The name’s Lumen. This here’s Sonny, Hadley, and Arrowmail. ”

“Come sit and chat a spell,” Sonny offered, patting the chair near her knee. “Hey Arrow, could you go rustle up the others? Sure they’d want to meet this nice fella.”

Vei’s ears turned a little pink and Lumen was hit with another pang of recognition. “Oh no, don’t worry about that,” he said. “I, um, don’t mean to stay long. I just wanted to speak with Captain Saimiri.”

The atmosphere shifted. Arrowmail’s eyes dulled, Sonny’s glow faded slightly, and Hadley’s shoulders went stiff. “You’ve wasted your time then,” the former bandit said. Her words were flat and cold. “She can’t answer.”

The Apex looked bewildered. “I… I’m sorry? Is she—”

“She’s dead.”

Silence. Lumen looked away as he saw Hadley’s face twist slightly as she tried to fight down tears. “Steady, lil’ miss…”

Hadley ignored him. “Our captain is dead,” she repeated. She shook off Sonny’s hand as the green Novakid tried to touch her shoulder. “She went in against… against that thing and she’s a damn _hero_ and she’s _dead_ and I couldn’t do _anything_ to help her.”

“Nothin’ any of us could do,” Lumen murmured. Sonny hummed softly, fading to almost grey as Hadley buried her head in her arms, shaking.

“Distressed. Should I fetch handkerchiefs?” Arrowmail offered. Sonny just nodded, rubbing Hadley’s back. Hadley didn’t push her away this time.

Lumen sighed, a long, low rush of static as his own light dimmed. “Sorry to say it’s true, Vei,” he said, turning to face their guest again. “Nyota’s been… gone three days now. I’m actin’ captain in her stead. If ya came to speak with her… Guess ya came a bit too late.”

He hadn’t expected the Apex to look so suddenly lost. Vei sat down in the empty chair, hands folded on the table in front of him and everything but shock gone from his face. “I’m sorry,” he managed to whisper.

“You’re sorry? And what would some random rebel kid know about it?” Hadley asked, her voice thick with tears as she raised her head to glare at him.

Vei didn’t answer immediately. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the threadbare scientist doll he’d carried with him for the past five years, turning it over in his hands as if he could still feel the original owner’s touch in the old, old cloth. A bit of blue stitching poked through along one of its shoulders. “My name is Tarvei Saimiri,” he said quietly. “Nyota Saimiri was my sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The [final chapter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10903878/chapters/25094703) in Parallels happens immediately after this one.


	78. As Long as We Remember

Acting Captain’s log, Day 4

_Yer brother came to visit us. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me—ya had to come from somewhere, and lots of folks have siblings. I jus’… never thought of ya as a child, ma’am. Ya were always so much older than yer years. But he made me realize just how little we knew ‘bout ya. How much we’ll never know now. …Hope the kid’ll be alright._

_Hard to believe it’s been four days. Feels more like four lifetimes. I keep lookin’ in the mirror and wonderin’ why I ain’t a red giant yet. Them folks at the Outpost are feelin’ it too. Nuru’s lost her spunk a bit. Her color’s gone faded. Even that jolly ol’ Baron’s been down._

_Think Esther blames herself. Tonauac said she ain’t been sleepin’. He and Koichi’ve been lookin’ after her, makin’ sure she don’t spend all her time starin’ at the Ark. Ain’t seen Commander Blake since… well. I’m a bit worried ‘bout her too, but Esther says she’s kept in touch._

_It ain’t all gloom, at least. Ol’ fishfins has been gettin’ mighty friendly with Nuru. I catch him cheerin’ her up a lot, showin’ her his work on this museum thing he’s got goin’. She’s gettin’ pretty cozy with him. It’s real sweet to watch. I… wish ya could have seen it. It’s cheered our Hadley up some. She gets on well with Nuru. Fern-fangs perked up a bit when I told him, too. Poison’s gone, but it left some nasty scars. I ain’t sure if he’ll… well, time will tell. An’ it’s time I wrap this up I reckon. Actin’ Captain Lumen signin’ off._

-

Lumen switched off the recorder and ran a hand through his corona. It was getting easier to do these logs. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

Something tapped on the door. He looked up. “Ya can come in now. I’m done recordin’.”

Sonny slid the door open. Her glow was dim, a handful of sparks illuminating her corona and the uneasy bubbles deep inside her. “Hey, Lumen,” she said quietly. “I was hopin’ I’d find you here.”

“What’s wrong, Sonny?” Lumen asked. “Ya ain’t lookin’ too hot…” His own light brightened with concern. She’d been fine when he saw her an hour ago, talking and playing with Arrowmail. Had they gotten in a fight?

“I’m forgettin’, Lumen.” Sonny’s voice was so small that he almost didn’t hear it. “I can’t… I can’t remember her face, or the sound of her voice anymore. I’m… I’m scared, Lumen. I don’t want to forget her.”

Lumen hummed softly. This was worse than fighting. He could help with that. But memories… “What do ya remember?” he asked, putting a hand on her arm.

Sonny echoed his hum, a low static tone shaking her voice. “How’s that gonna help?”

“It’s better than nothin’,” Lumen told her. “It’s like the captain told me once, nothin’s ever lost to us, as long as we remember. “

Sonny brightened a little, a few more sparks flickering under her brand. “I remember things she said… That her eyes were dark, and she always had that flower in her hair. I… remember her standin’ between us and them cultists, and pullin’ Hadley away from the temple traps.”

“Anythin’ else?” Lumen prompted.

“No… wait. Yeah.” She was glowing warmly now, smiling, even as a plasma tear formed under her brand and rolled down her face. It hit the floor and dissolved with a hiss as she said, “I remember how warm her back was when she carried me home. Apex are scary but… I was never scared of her. But how’s this gonna help me, Lumen?”

“When ya lose someone ya love, some things don’t stick around too long,” Lumen said, gently wiping away another tear before it could fall. “I know I’ve forgotten names, faces, even where we met… And it’s gonna hurt, losin’ those little pieces of ‘em. But ya hold tight to the ones ya can, lil’ glowbug. Hold ‘em tight and don’t let go. That’s the shape they left in yer heart.”

Sonny nodded, the static hum fading a little. “What shape’d she leave in yours, Lumen? Tell me a story. Ya knew her longer ‘n I did. I want to hear what you remember.”    

“Alright.” Lumen sat down and patted the floor beside him. “Might jog yer memory. Come sit down a spell, lil’ glowbug. I’ll spin ya a yarn ‘bout our Nyota Saimiri.”

 

**

 

Acting Captain’s log, Day 5

_Food supplies’re gettin’ a bit low now. Guess I ought’ve expected this, an’ done somethin’ ‘bout it sooner. It ain’t easy, feedin’ eight folks every day. It still knocks my hat off, how much ya—nah. Ain’t the time for that._

_Arjun got the ship flyin’ with a bit of help from SAIL. We’re still figurin’ how to override the voice commands so it’ll listen to him and he ain’t got the knack for them fancy hologram controls, but he got the ol’ manual workin’ fine. Sonny, Arrowmail, and I went out foragin’ and managed to get enough to last us a good while if we’re careful with it. They’ve gone out for another run now. Sonny’s good with her knife, and I’ve been teachin’ Arrowmail to use a gun. He’s a natural with it once he stopped flinchin’ at the bang. It ain’t a dangerous world they’re on, but I still fret… Our two best fighters’re still down. We can’t afford to find trouble._

_…I’ve been puttin’ it off, but it’s… been five days now, ma’am. Guess I oughta… start figurin’ out how to say goodbye. …Hang on a sec, SAIL. Pause the recordin’, will ya? I hear someone._

Lumen looked up as the door slid open. “Oldarva? Did ya need somethin’? …Hey, somethin’ wrong?”

The Apex shook her head. She held a slim book in one hand. As she got closer, Lumen noticed her eyes were rimmed with red, like she’d been crying. “I found her journal.”

Lumen hummed quietly. He should have expected that, but… “What’s in it?”

Oldarva handed it to him, absently wiping her eyes with the back of her free hand. Lumen took it, a strange buzz running up his fingertips as they closed around the cover. His captain’s words. He almost broke down when he caught sight of the thin, neat letters. She’d written it by hand in Apex script, the fine lines just slightly slanted on the page from her efforts to avoid smudging. He forced himself to flip through a few pages, then set the book down, hands shaking as a long static sigh escaped him. He’d just seen his name.

“She wrote down everything,” Oldarva whispered. “The name of every planet, their dangers, the resources she found, the people she met. Every one of us is in there. I thought you might find it useful, since…”

He nodded, still numb. “Wish I could read it,” he said, shutting the journal. He couldn’t look at it any longer, not now. “I never learned yer folks’ language.”

Oldarva hesitated, and said, “I could read it for you.”

“Could ya now? Thank ya kindly.” Lumen felt a current rush through him, hot and cold and full of something he did not want to name. He shook his head, flickering. “Ah, sorry, Eldie… Got a lot on my mind right now.”

She seemed to shrink slightly, bowing her head and shoulders and tucking her hands into her sleeves; he could see her twisting the fabric between her fingers. “Do you… want to talk about it?” she asked.

“Eh? Come again?” Lumen barely heard her.

Oldarva bit her lip, eyes fixed on the floor. “Never mind, forget I…”

He put a hand on her arm, calming himself enough for a soothing hum. “Yer okay, Eldie. I just didn’t hear ya.”

She took a breath, her shoulders relaxing just a little bit. “I… Do you need any help, Lumen?” she asked. “You have been looking after everyone until now. No one has taken care of you.”

Lumen sat down with a long sigh, running a hand through his corona. Oldarva sat down beside him and he leaned against her almost without thinking. “I dunno if you can help, Eldie… but it mean a lot that ya’d try,” he murmured. He felt her arm settle behind his back.

“Even our captain didn’t mind a shoulder to cry on.”

That tipped it. Lumen buried his head in Oldarva’s shoulder, a deep static hum shaking through him. Five days. Five days and he hadn’t been able to cry for her, he hadn’t even let himself feel… “Eldie, I can’t do this,” he said. “I ain’t… I ain’t _her._ I can’t be her, an’ we need her more’n anythin’.” Grief dulled his light to nothing more than a spark as Oldarva gently pulled him close.

“You have held us up this far, Lumen,” she whispered. “You don’t need to be Nyota. We need Lumen too. Let me help you.”

“Ya are helpin’. Jus’… don’t let go.”

Oldarva nodded, and ran a hand over his shoulders. Lumen leaned into her touch. He hadn’t realized just how much he needed someone else right now. She folded her arms around him, humming something soft and soothing.

Then he felt a slight pain near his brand, followed by Oldarva’s flinch. The hum broke off with a high, stifled sound in the back of her throat. Lumen pulled back sharply and saw her hand jump to her collarbone just as he felt another hot plasma tear roll down his own face.

“Oh _hell._ Eldie, I—I need t’see to that. Didn’t think about—Damn it. I’m so sorry…” Lumen scrambled to his feet, quickly flicking the tear away before it could hurt her more. It hissed and dissipated against the cold metal floor.

“It’s okay, I’m okay,” Oldarva insisted, even though he could see her trying not to cry from the pain of it. She took a deep breath and moved her hand away from the small, ugly burn, reaching out to him. “It's not deep... I am fine, Lumen.”

The panic died. Lumen took her hand and helped her to her feet. “I’m sorry for hurtin’ ya, Eldie,” he said, guiding her toward the door. “I still need to take care of that. But thanks. For everythin’.”


	79. The Ark Wakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters (and an epilogue) left. They'll be a bit shorter now, so I might post faster.

Esther stretched her stiff bones as she finished her breakfast (featherfood again, bless that sweet Avian). Six days since she’d lost her purpose, since she lost… “No, chin up, Esther,” she muttered to herself, turning her chair toward the Ark. She had promised to help Koichi transcribe some of his research from the Library, after all. She had gotten so used to working beneath the great gate that it was hard to imagine working anywhere else.

Half an hour in, just as she began trying to figure out a tricky idiom, Esther became aware of a low humming, like an old generator turning on. She looked up, confused, and wondered if her ears were finally starting to play tricks on her. Her pen slipped from her fingers and cracked against the hard stone floor. The Ark was beginning to glow again.

-

Lumen watched as heat softened the diluted venom sample, its color fading as the agent converted the poison to medicine. He occasionally swirled the flask’s contents before setting it back on the burner. He’d been working on replenishing his stock whenever he had a free moment, but he was still terribly low on antitoxins… The Novakid paused in reaching for the flask and plucked at his sleeve before stirring the mixture again. _Dang static._

The door slid open as he pulled the finished result off the burner and set it on the rack to cool. “Lumen? SAIL says Esther called. She wants to talk to you,” Sonny called.

“Eh? What’s up?” the orange Novakid asked, tucking his supplies away and heading over to her.

Sonny led him back upstairs. “I dunno what exactly,” she admitted. “Esther wouldn’t say. But she said somethin’s up out there, and that she was callin’ everyone back.” She stopped, looked back, and pulled a strand of ginger hair out of his ponytail. “You missed a spot.”

“Ah, dangit,” Lumen muttered, hand automatically moving to check for any more. He caught the amused brightening in her glow and crackled softly. “…Don’t say anythin’.”

“I ain’t gonna,” Sonny promised, humming as a couple glittery sparks fizzed through her.

But the faint humor from Sonny’s teasing faded as Lumen warmed up the teleporter. What had worried Esther so much that she’d call him to the Ark?

-

Tarvei was in the planning room again, watching the commander dig her way through the latest set of Miniknog plans he’d brought them. There was a stranger with them today, a small female Apex with short, rough-cut black hair and eerie silver eyes, so bright against her dark blue skin. She stood beside Tarvei, silently watching as Aly and Blake worked out their plans. Blake had introduced her as Vaska. Rumor had it she was the Resistance’s best tracker and survivalist, and Tarvei believed it, eyeing her weather-worn hands and the longbow slung across her back. She was also anxious, several of her thin braids frayed by twisting fingers.

“She’s not slept,” Vaska muttered, her unsettling stare fixed on Blake as the commander made a few notes and resumed talking to Aly. “Not before, not since we got back. Not eaten, either, not much. Boy.”

Vei jumped as Vaska touched his arm. She pulled back, but her eyes locked on his face.

“What hurt our Lana?”

He met her stare and tried to answer, but the words wouldn’t come. They were too fresh, too raw. Unshed tears closed up his throat.

Vaska tilted her head and her eyes softened. “It hurt you too, child?” She reached up, hand curving gently around his cheek. “So young. Can’t ease those deepest wounds. I’m sorry.”

Something in her expression, or in that small but heavy pause before _I’m sorry_ , almost sent the tears spilling down Tarvei’s face again. But he caught himself as he realized Blake and Aly had gone silent. The commander was listening to a small communicator. After several seconds, she said, “I understand. I will be there shortly.” She switched it off and turned to Aly. “My apologies. We will have to resume this later.”

“Are you leaving again?” Aly asked, curiosity and caution in her voice. “Rodim and Mera will not be pleased.”

“Rodim is never pleased,” Blake said, heading for the ladder. Tarvei followed her without thinking, and froze when Blake stopped and looked back at him. But all she said was, “Are you coming?”

Tarvei nodded.

-

The others had already arrived when Lumen reached the Ark. Nuru stood beside Koichi, one hand curled around his and the other gripping her spear. Tonauac rocked nervously on his feet until the Baron nudged him with a disapproving look. “Reproachful. Show no fear, my good bird!”

Lana Blake nodded quietly to Lumen before returning her attention to Esther and the Ark. She looked haggard, with dark circles under her eyes and a kind of unsteadiness to her that set off quiet alarms in Lumen’s head. She was exhausted, worn too thin. She had not replaced her scarf. Tarvei stood behind her. He offered Lumen a small, painfully familiar smile as he caught sight of the Novakid. Lumen brightened a little and nodded back.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Esther said, turning to look at the people she had assembled. “I am sorry to bother you, so soon after… Well. As you can see, the Ark… it’s awakened again.”

Lumen studied the gate. All the runes were alight, as they’d been when he last saw it. “What’s it mean?”

“I don’t know,” Esther said. Her hands shook. “I fear… I fear it means the Ark is needed again. That the Ruin is somehow still alive.”


	80. Life

Her body drifted in the void, still transfixed by the bone spar that had killed her. Blood froze in glittering icicles around the wound, dark against her frost-whitened fur. But it wasn’t _her_ , not anymore. Whatever had made her Nyota was gone, scattered like ashes around the stiff, cold corpse. Warmth had vanished in the Ruin’s prison when the Ruin shattered. Now, the dimension itself was beginning to dissolve.

Awareness came slowly. She was fragmented, disjointed, like glass caught in a rough current and smashed against the rocks—or was she the current itself, too fast and wild to even be, tearing itself apart? Panic seized her; the current felt it, and grew calm.

Stars gleamed in the darkness. Their whispers reached her as the prison walls melted away, the faint sparks of color reflecting in her dark, sightless eyes. No, not stars—souls. Lives. One of them shone so near her, as yellow as Sol… She was still so shattered but she wanted to follow it—it felt right—

Something caught her and whispered, “Not yet.”

A vast hand curved around her as if cradling her body and what was left of her soul. Her own life was long gone, ripped away when the bone spar tore through her heart, but the hand’s touch felt like Life itself.

“Protector…” The voice came from all around her, almost a song. “Do not follow the myriad souls of those that came before you. Though even I succumbed to the Ruin… ”

She felt the current pull at her again, but gently, sweeping the shattered pieces back into herself. Tiny blue lights danced over her icy fur, sparking as they brushed the long fingers. And still the voice murmured.

“When we fought, I shattered: broke apart into near infinite pieces… Much was simply lost, though fragments of myself, ancient and wild, broke away and became something new… What little of myself remained stayed to watch what I had left behind.”

The hand shifted, and a shock ran through her awareness as the lights melded with her. She held her own form again, a pale copy of the corpse that drifted beneath her, frayed and broken at the edges but almost whole. The voice was closer now, its lilting whisper seeming to come from all around her as air began to collect in tiny bubbles along her body, stirring her frost-stiffened hair.

“You united my artifacts, Protector. The six races I gifted now stand as one. You have planted a seed of peace that will grow and spread throughout this vast universe.” She could hear a smile in the voice as the current grew still. “The Ruin is destroyed, the universe is saved, but there is still so much to do. And now, to you, I give my final gift—the last of myself.”

The great hand curled around her and she felt… she _felt._ Pain—blinding, if souls had eyes, and she _had_ eyes, streaming from the agony and narrowed to slits against all the stars all around her, above and below as far as she could see. She felt their light stabbing at her as she became dark, heavy, aching flesh and bone. A finger brushed the bone spar and it melted into crimson light, spiraling away as her blood thawed and heat burned along her heart, surging through her veins. That first heartbeat felt like it would tear her apart again. She gasped and choked on the air, warmth filling her frozen lungs. Memory of death seared her skin and she screamed—then laughed, the pain suddenly so much less than the joy of having a voice, hearing that voice, _breathing_.

“Return, Protector,” the Cultivator whispered. “Live again.”


	81. Nyota

Lumen felt it first, a quickening in the light that formed his hands, almost a pulse. He felt for his gun. The Ruin had killed his captain. What chance did he have against it? But he’d have to try.

The Ark brightened just seconds later; everyone backed away, some shielding their eyes as the runes flared with light. Lana’s hand moved to the knife at her hip.

“What’s going on?” Koichi asked. He put a trembling hand on Nuru’s shoulder as she bared her teeth nervously.

“It’s reacting to something on the other side!” Esther said. Her eyes looked huge behind her glasses, wide with fear and apprehension. Then the runes went dark. Silence. A minute passed, then another.

“At the top!” Tarvei called, making them jump and look up. The statue of the Cultivator was shining, rays of light in every color gathering in its downturned palm. Just before it became too bright to look at, the light shot downward like a teleporter’s beam. It struck the tile and froze, shrank, dimmed. A woman formed in its heart, her clothes in tattered disarray, her chest and legs stained with blood, and water dripping from her half-frosted hair. The light vanished; she collapsed, like a marionette with its strings cut.

“Nyota…? Nyota!”

Tarvei reached her first; his breath caught as he saw her move, saw her struggling to push herself up. He dropped to his knees, slipping an arm under her shoulder before she could fall again. He didn’t know what was happening. Her crew had said—but here she was, her dark eyes dazed with pain, breathing hard just from the effort of moving, her pulse faint but steady against his skin. “Nyota. Sister.”

Her expression softened and she looked up into his eyes, eyes so very like hers. “You knew?”

He just smiled and pulled her into a hug. Her eyes widened briefly and she stiffened, then relaxed and wrapped one arm around him. Behind them, Vei could hear Koichi crying happily and Nuru’s quiet laughter as she patted his arm. He ignored them. His sister. Alive.

A hand tapped Tarvei’s shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt yer moment,” Lumen muttered, “but the lady’s injured and I’d like t’see to her.”

“Oh! Sorry, of course,” Vei said as Nyota’s hand fell back to her side. He shifted aside, supporting her with one arm as Lumen crouched beside him. She was too weak to sit up on her own. The Novakid’s glow darkened as his fingers brushed the jagged tear in her shirt; he hummed in consternation as he felt the smooth, unmarred skin beneath.

“Lumen,” Nyota whispered, offering him a weary smile. “…You’re still in your old uniform?”

“Yers don’t fit me.” Lumen looked up from examining the lacerations along her right leg and rested his hand on hers. “Nyota. Ya… ya are _real,_ ain’t ya?” He curled his fingers around her hand as if he expected it to vanish any moment. “I can’t… I saw ya die, ma’am. And now here. Yer alive. Yer _alive._ ”

“Yes… I—the others. How… how are they?” Her words were confused, disjointed.

Lumen shook his head. He still couldn’t quite believe this was _her_ , this was _real,_ but the concern in her face was genuine. “Don’t ya worry ‘bout them now. Yer mostly stable, far as I can tell, but we oughta get ya home, and with yer legs torn up like this ya can’t…” He trailed off as Nyota looked up, the worry in her expression melting into something soft and warm.

Nyota reached up and pulled the red scarf off as Lana knelt beside her. She held it out. “This is yours.”

Lana took the scarf. Her fingers tightened around it as she met Nyota’s gaze, and then she smiled. Out of place as the scarf seemed, slightly tattered and bloody against her pristine green jacket, Lana looked more like herself than she had in almost a week as she wound it back around her own neck. “Dinner may have to wait,” she said. “…Welcome back.”

She hesitated, then reached out, slowly, as if expecting Nyota to pull away. But Nyota remained still as Lana curled a hand around her cheek and leaned in close until their foreheads touched. They held there for a long moment, eyes closed, before Lana lowered her hand. “You have taught me that there is always hope,” she whispered, too quietly for Lumen and Tarvei to hear. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

“Let’s get ya home, Captain,” Lumen said as Lana sat back. “Could one of ya lend a hand? I ain’t strong enough to carry her.”

“I can,” Tarvei offered quickly, before Lana could speak up. The commander was still exhausted, even though her expression was at peace. He slid his arm under Nyota’s legs and stood up. Nyota leaned into his shoulder with a grateful murmur and closed her eyes. She was fast asleep before he even reached the stairs.

-

Hadley looked up as she heard the teleporter activate and remembered just in time to furiously scrub the dampness off her cheeks. Who knew what state Lumen would be in, coming back from the place where… from that place. She wasn’t the only one hurting. He didn’t need to see that she’d been crying. “Hey,” she tried, opening the door. “You’re ba—”

She broke off, looking behind Lumen at the tall Apex boy. The captain’s brother. Why had he come back? What was he smiling—

“Captain!”

Nyota woke to Hadley’s shout and the answering calls from around the ship, the sound of running feet and Sonny’s shrill yelp as she almost tumbled down the ladder in her haste to see what the fuss was about. She opened her eyes to see Arrowmail catch the green Novakid and climb down with her clinging to him, Oldarva and Arjun following close behind. Hadley was staring at her, mouth open in shock. As soon as she saw Nyota’s eyes open she grinned, tears glittering in her eyes again. Lumen was trying to get some semblance of order.

“Careful, Sonny! I’ve told ya to wear yer boots ‘round the place so ya don’t slip—ah shoot, got a handkerchief for ya, Eldie, here—hey, we need to get through, would ya make some room—Fern-fangs, what in tarnation are ya doin’ out of bed?”

“You really should listen to your captain,” Nyota said, laughing softly. Her voice wasn’t much stronger than a whisper, but it carried easily through the noise. Everyone quieted.

“With all due respect, ma’am,” Lumen said, glowing warm and bright as fire, “I ain’t Actin’ Captain anymore. Yer back.”

“You’re back,” Hadley echoed as the tears spilled down her face again. She couldn’t hug just Nyota, so she flung her arms around both her captain and Tarvei, crying against Nyota’s chest. “You’re back…”

“Hadley, you’ll get my blood on your face,” Nyota whispered, gently brushing a hand through the girl’s hair.

“S-sorry, ma’am…” Hadley mumbled. She let go and stepped back, sniffling and smiling and wiping her eyes.  “I just… How did you survive?”

“I didn’t.” And she started laughing again, dizzy and breathless and too weak to do more than wipe the tears from Hadley’s face, but that didn’t matter because she was _home_.


	82. Epilogue

Lana Blake woke slowly, utterly disoriented by the softness under and around her. Bedsheets. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept in a real bed…

The Novakid medic had insisted she stay and rest a few days as soon as the bright ship lights revealed the dark circles under her eyes, and when Vei sided with him Lana hadn’t bothered to protest, not when Captain Saimiri added her agreement. Saimiri, siblings. Lana smiled wryly, still amused despite the fog of sleep that kept trying to pull her back down into the warm mattress. She should have seen it before.

They had set up a cot for her in the captain’s room. It was the only place they had space for guests with Tarvei taking the library couch. Captain Saimiri’s injuries were healing well; she had been moved back to her own bed last night. Lana could vaguely remember being woken by the captain’s voice—almost a sob, then a broken cough and a half-coherent murmur.

“Are you alright?” she had asked, rising to check on her and finding the other woman’s eyes open. Lana’s hand brushed Captain Saimiri’s face: warm, but not feverish at least. But her eyes were distant; with pain or nightmares, Lana couldn’t tell. “I will fetch the medic,” she offered, and turned to go.

A hand curled around hers. “Stay. Please.”

So Lana Blake found herself sitting in the bed, whispering to her and gently rubbing the pain out of Captain Saimiri’s aching body, running her fingers through her long mane and over her back, though she avoided the long white stripe in the captain’s fur that was the only proof of what had happened beyond the Ark. Eventually, the nightmare faded, and weariness began to pull the other woman’s eyes shut again. Lana had meant to return to her own cot when Captain Saimiri fell asleep again; she wasn’t certain when sleep had claimed her too.

But now the other side of the bed was empty. Lana sat up, hand still tingling with the memory of Captain Saimiri’s fingers laced between hers, and felt the covers. Slightly warm: she couldn’t have left that long ago. Worry pulled Lana to her feet; she remembered the deep tears in Captain Saimiri’s leg, skin mottled by poison. She was in no shape to walk anywhere. Lana paused only to pull a spare blanket over her shoulders before she headed for the door.

-

Nyota sat beside the captain’s chair, staring up at the stars. She could feel their light whispering against her skin as she adjusted the crutches leaning against the chair with her free hand; it would be no good if they fell and woke someone up.

In her other hand, she held a piece of flat black metal that had once held the shape of a sun. A single cut split through it. Though she couldn’t see them, she could feel a spiderweb of cracks running along that line. When Nox had thrown it to her in the Library depths, Nyota hadn’t been able to believe it had once belonged to her best friend. Now, it was as if she could feel echoes of him through the cold metal. Her throat was a little sore from speaking for so long: she had just finished telling him all that had happened since their last day together on Earth. She had seen him lingering there, in the place where the Cultivator called her to life. It was time to say goodbye.

The door opened behind her and Nyota stiffened as she caught the quiet sound of unfamiliar feet. Then she caught the slightest scent of steel and summer and relaxed. “Did I wake you?” she asked.

“You should be resting,” Lana replied, avoiding the question. “Your medic will be having a word with whoever gave you those crutches.”

“I know,” Nyota replied, glancing back at her. “I just… needed to come here.” The sight of Lana Blake with a blanket wrapped haphazardly around her shoulders and hair still ruffled with sleep was strange; she had never imagined Lana like this. A smile tugged at her lips.

Lana had a question in her eyes, but she didn’t ask, and Nyota was grateful. She couldn’t explain it. Something warm settled over her; she recognized the blanket and looked up, curious.

“It is a little cold for that undershirt,” Lana said simply. She sat down beside Nyota and indicated the metal in Nyota’s hand. “Was that a friend of yours?”

“Yes… He was with me when I defected. We joined the Protectorate together.” She turned it over, letting the starlight catch on the split. “He died with the Earth.”

“He would be proud of you,” Lana murmured.

Nyota smiled. “…Yes. He would.” She set the brand down on the chair and raised her arm to make a little room under the blanket. When another question showed in Lana’s face, she said, “It is a little cold for your shirt, too.”

Lana didn’t object. She shifted a bit closer so Nyota could drape the blanket over both of them. _It’s practical,_ Nyota tried telling herself, but she enjoyed the moment too much to write it off now. _I love her._

Several moments passed in silence, just them and the stars. “So your mission is over, Captain Saimiri,” Lana said at last. She turned to look at Nyota. “What will you do now?”

“Please, just Nyota,” Nyota said, shifting to meet her gaze. “Captain was more by chance than merit…”

“But you have earned it,” Lana said firmly. “…I will call you Nyota if you wish.” There was that odd hesitance again. “You called me Lana before.”

Nyota broke eye contact and stared at her feet. “I am sorry,” she said. “I—”

“I liked it.”

A full second passed before Nyota had enough conscious thought to hope that the sudden heat in her ears wasn’t a blush forming. She tried to acknowledge it, couldn’t find the words, and just gave a short nod. “Lana, then.”

“You did not answer my question, though,” Lana continued, as if nothing had happened. “What will you do now, Nyota Saimiri?”

Hearing her name on Lana’s tongue relaxed her. “I do owe you dinner,” Nyota teased, and was rewarded with a small smile. “But Lumen will insist I rest first, and he is right. I still don’t feel _right_ in myself.”

“Getting up in the middle of the night to stargaze is not resting,” Lana remarked drily.

Nyota sighed, grinning. “You know what I mean. But my mission is far from over. The Protectorate, the Miniknog, our people…” She looked up at the stars, eyes shining with deep, quiet excitement. “There is still so much to do.”

Her hand brushed against Lana’s, and she smiled as she felt Lana’s fingers curl around her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it ends. Many thanks to all of you who have stayed with me through this! If you want to see more from Nyota's crew (asks, art, and even more story), check my tumblr at nyotasaimiri.tumblr.com. The tale is far from over~


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